2010 will mark the 389 Thanksgiving Holiday celebrated in America - at least according to most historians. There are some scholars who contend that Europeans celebrated ceremonies of thanksgiving much earlier. 

In 1565, for instance, the Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilé invited members of the local Timucua tribe to a dinner in St. Augustine, Florida, after holding a mass to thank God for his crew's safe arrival to the New World.

In any case, Thanksgiving is a great holiday for family and friends and Laura and I sincerely wish you the best.

As anticipated, based on pending results reported last month, sales in October were down compared to October 2009.  For the month, total single family homes sales in Cumberland County were 211, representing a decrease of 26%.  As of the end of the month, under contract properties continue to trend below 2009 levels, loosing much of the momentum from earlier in the year.

Pricing in October, however, was favorable compared to the same period in 2009 as the median home price was $228,000 versus $215,900 in October 2009.

The pricing statistics can be a little bit misleading, as final contract prices continue to be considerably less than initial listing prices.  With so many homes on the market the competition continues to be fierce as buyers simply have an enormous amount of inventory to consider and compare.

Finally, we encourage you to take a quick look at the book  "Five".  We found it a great way to help think about the future.