From Curbly.com, would you have the courage to paint your house black?

In what is a stunning and beautiful comparison of trends in the stock market, photographer Michael Najjar’s work was reported by infosthetics.com,

Each stock market index, such as the Nikkei, Dow Jones, Nasdaq or the more specific Lehman Brothers stock quote downfall, corresponds to a impeccably rendered unique mountain range. Or, put differently, “the virtual data mountains of the stock market charts are sublimated in the materiality of the Argentinean mountainscape“.

The photographer’s site can be found here.  His work is truly amazing.

I adore cruising through Brittney’s Shared Items because she finds such unique, interesting things to talk about, share.  Here’s an assortment of some of my latest favorites related to housing, moving, real estate.

Smart Moving Tape - Of course you could always get a big sharpie and write it on the box!

If, like me, you’re a nerd for color-coded labeling systems, you’ll understand why. But this tape doesn’t just look OCD-ishly awesome. We’re told it actually can cut way down on moving day stress.

A triangular bedroom from sfhaps - photo only because words aren’t necessary!

And finally this beauty of a three-bedroom award-winning, eco-friendly house in San Fran from Curbed San Francisco.

The 3-bed, 3.5-bath house was something of a leap for Wright — ”a new palette for my canvas” — who was more known at the time for his “extravagant Beverly Hills mansions and luxurious Malibu bungalows.” The house uses an engineered lumber reportedly four times more durable than wood, and relies on a ventilation system that keeps temperature naturally regulated.

Thanks again, Brittney. Wish you were still closer to the East Coast than on the West Coast of USA!

The last of the housing market data is being tallied from 2009, and it looks like things have ended on something of a weak note. Housing starts dropped 4% in December. Multi-family housing starts gained, but that small victory was completely overwhelmed by the fact that single-family housing starts were down so much.

In my mind, it appears that the news illustrates continued stress on families. Demand for multi-family units indicates that there are plenty of families in financial trouble, and even suffering through foreclosure, looking for less expensive housing. Single-family housing starts are above the bottom seen in 2009, but they are far from showing strength. Improvement in this area is likely to be slow, depending on a change in the employment situation.

Until families can afford single housing units gain, housing starts are likely to continue to struggle.

Even as we hear about a recovering economy, the fact of the matter is that there are some places that have higher rates of foreclosure than others. Here is a chart on foreclosure distribution from 2005 to 2009 found at The Mortgage Reports.

You can see the large spike after the financial crisis toward the end of 2008. And it does appear that foreclosures are declining right now. As long as we see something of an improvement in terms of employment and the overall economy, there should be continued declines in the rate of foreclosure.

After taking a bit of a break for the holidays, it appears that mortgage applications are on the rise again. As one might expect, refinancing is in the lead again. But home purchase applications have risen as well, reports MarketWatch:

Refinancing applications jumped 21.8% in the week ended Jan. 8 compared with the week before, which was shortened for the New Year’s holiday. Applications for mortgages to purchase homes rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% on a week-to-week basis.

With the home buyer tax credit extended and expanded, it is no surprise that people are starting to consider buying homes again. Of course, some of these mortgage applications will be rejected, without good credit scores, but the increase in applications is heartening for the housing market.

And, of course, it makes sense that refinancing applications are on the rise. With mortgage rates still hovering near historical lows, it is natural that home owners want to take advantage. When you refinance to a lower interest rate, it is possible to save thousands of dollars on your home loan.

With signs of economic recovery showing, there are concerns that inflation could come with economic growth. This is a common thought, since economic growth often means that prices rise as well, eroding the purchasing power of the dollar. And, indeed, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. believes that inflation is on the way, reports BusinessWeek:

“Inflation will start to tick up again as we get stronger growth,” Stanley said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. “I don’t think the Fed is ready to own up to that.”

As a result, there are some expectations that the Fed will have no choice but to raise interest rates in order to combat inflation. It is possible that the Fed will raise rates to 3% by the end of 2010, from their current rate at between 0% and 0.25%.

For savers, this is good news, since it means that they will see a higher yield on their cash investments. For borrowers, though, it means that they will have to pay more in interest charges. If you have a variable mortgage rate, it might be time to refinance. If you have credit card debt, it is best to pay down as much as you can before rates move even higher than they already are.

In the time frame of our short attention spans, this recent recession has been a bit long. Many people who have changed their spending behaviors in accordance with economic conditions appear ready to slide back into pre-recession habits. At least that’s the hope offered by retailers reporting their December sales results.

Last month saw the best monthly retail sales in more than 20 months, with consumers ready to spread a little Christmas cheer after abstaining during the recession. Additionally, rock-bottom discounts in the post-holiday sale fervor further tempted consumers. But, of course, the real point is that consumers appear to be developing comfort with spending money again.

While this is likely to provide a boost to the economy, it is not likely to do much in terms of actually helping individual finances. This is because, in spite of the frugality seen in recent months, many Americans are still in debt. While the savings rate has risen, and debt has decreased, it hasn’t been by enough to overcome the credit spending spree that characterized the 15 or so years leading up to the most recent recession.

If consumers are already tired of frugality and ready to dive back into the instant gratification of credit spending, all it will do is once again raise their debt, reduce their savings — and put them in a worse position for the next economic downcycle.

The U.S. economy is expected to continue to show improvement as we move into 2010. The improvement is likely to continue at a modest pace, though. As the new year gets underway, the economy is expected to slowly expand. Rapid expansion is not predicted, since there still remain significant challenges to the economy. Action Forex reports on difficulties still facing the U.S. economy:

Furthermore, we should not forget that the Fed signaled within the FOMC rate decision that economic activity remains under pressure from elevated unemployment, lower income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit conditions continue to weigh down on economic activity, as the economy will probably remain weak and will only recover gradually, while the Feds still believe that the ongoing economic weakness will continue to weigh down on inflation.

Until the employment picture begins to show marked improvement, we are unlikely to see a great deal of economic recovery. Until then, chances are that economic improvements will be small and slow in coming.

Wishing you a Happy and Successful New Year!

May you enjoy increased prosperity, and hopefully set resolutions that will lead to a better situation.