Analysts say that the housing market has not recovered yet and that it will be next year before any improvement is seen.
The outlook for the home market dimmed this week as residential construction and mortgage applications fell and loan delinquencies reached a record.
"I don't think the housing crisis is over," Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com, said in a telephone interview. "I think we’re going to see another leg down."
New home sales may begin to pick up by the start of the so-called spring selling season, said Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder. Existing house sales may take longer. Residential construction and property sales led the way out of the previous seven recessions going back to 1960, said David Berson, chief economist of PMI Group, the mortgage insurer in Walnut Creek, California.
Mortgage applications for home purchases fell to a 12-year low last week and foreclosures rose to record highs in the third quarter, according to reports from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
An index measuring November homebuilder confidence came in lower than the median forecast of 45 economists this week. The Commerce Department on Nov. 18 said residential building dropped 11 percent in October to the lowest level since April’s all-time bottom.
Unemployment is at a 26 year high, which is driving more homeowners into foreclosure and keeping new mortgage applications low. The U.S. has lost
7.3 million jobs since December 2007. That is a record number not seen since the Great Depression.
There are a few retailers that offer breakfast to early shoppers on Black Friday. IKEA is one of them. IKEA is running its Seize the Days sale over Black Friday weekend, November 27th to November 29th. They will serve breakfast in the morning until 10:30 am.
Some of the deals include a Lleksvik coffee table for $59, a 20-piece Charmig flatware set for $9.99, a Bekvam kitchen cart for $19.99 and a Leksvik cd tower for $29. You can also find the IKEA Black Friday deals here and here.
Spore is selling an LED doorbell button called True. It is a mostly-metal 1.8-inch doorbell button that features LED illumination. The doorbell will probably attract people who want to press it just see it light up. Below is an image of what it looks like when it is illuminated. The Spore True doorbell buttons can be purchased here. They cost $56.
Time magazine has compiled its list of the 50 best inventions of the year. You can see the list here and descriptions of each item here. Some of the inventions on Time's list include: Tank Bred Tuna, Living Wall, EnergyHub dashboard, the YikeBike, Nissan Leaf, Philips' LED bulb and Microsoft's Project Natal. Time senior writer Lev Grossman discusses some of the top choices in the video below. Take a look:
Ambient has launched its sleek looking Cirrus 7-Day Forecaster. The device is plugged into the wall and does not require an Internet connection. Cirrus automatically provides real forecast data from AccuWeather.com throughout the day. Detailed icons indicate conditions such as "light rain" and "heavy snow" and a text description provides additional information, such as "clouds giving way to sun" or "chance of afternoon showers." The device also provides UV index, wind speed and direction, as well as high pollen and low air quality alerts. The weather device can be purchased here from Best Buy for $99.99.
CNN reports that some of Target's Black Friday offers include $3 toasters and coffeemakers.
Target is hoping to lure this year's Black Friday shoppers with $3 toasters and coffeemakers, deep deals on high-definition televisions, and discounts of 50% on clothes and toys, according to a Web site that says it has received a leaked copy of the retailer's circular.
Brad Olson, founder of Gottadeal.com, a Web site that markets itself as one of many "official" Black Friday deal sites, said Wednesday that he received a copy of the discount retailer's ad.
The $3 kitchen appliances in Target Black Friday ads are from Chefmate. They include a Chefmate 2-Slice Toaster, Chefmate Slow Cooker, Chefmate 12-Cup Coffeemaker and Chefmate 2-Slice Sandwich Maker. BFads.net has a photo showing the $3 appliances advertised. Another Doorbuster in the Target ads is a Westinghouse 32-inch LCD HDTV for $246 and a TomTom GPS for $97. Target is also offering a free gift card worth $10 if you spend $100 or more at its stores from 5 a.m. to noon on Black Friday.
You can see Target's ads at GottaDeal, BlackFriday.info and other sites carrying Black Friday ads. A chart here has links to several of the Black Friday ad providers.
A Target spokeswoman told CNN they won't confirm the ads. Target spokeswoman Sarah Boehle says Target "is unable to confirm the accuracy of any [Black Friday] two-day ads or pricing information that is posted online."
Paula Deen has a spice line out that is making its way into more store. The spices manufactured and distributed by Quality Food Brands are expected to be available in more than 10,000 retail stores for the holiday season. The Paula Deen line will initially consist of six custom blended varieties of spices that include spice grinder bottles of sea salt, black peppercorns, garlic sea salt, poultry seasoning, onion sea salt, and cinnamon sugar.
"As we head to the first quarter of 2010, we anticipate that over 50,000 outlets will carry the Paula Deen spice lines," stated Richard Cohen, president of Quality Food Brands.
Reuters reports that a study by the NPD Group on eating patterns has found that Americans are microwaving meals more than ever. From 1990 to 2007 about 20% of meals were made with a microwave. The percentage of microwaved meals jumped to 30% last year.
Americans have been eating at home more often since the beginning of the decade, but in 2008 their microwaves did much of the work, according to NPD Group's 24th annual report on eating patterns in America.
"Microwaving has been flat for two decades, but it increased last year as Americans found a way to eat at home and not cook," said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD Group.
About 20 percent of all meals prepared in U.S. homes from 1990 to 2007 involved using a microwave. Last year, such usage rose ten percent, the market research company found.
The increase usage should ultimatelty lead a rise in microwave purchases as more microwaves will break down if more of them are being used.
Photo: Panasonic NN-H965BF Luxury Full-Size 2.2-Cubic-Foot 1,250-Watt Microwave Oven, Black from Amazon.com
Metropolitan Home magazine is ceasing publication its December issue. The Pointclickhome.com website will also bec losed. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. has decided to close the magazine and focus on Elle Decor instead. Crain's New Yorkreports that ad pages plunged 34% for Metropolitan Home in 2009.
Ad pages for Metropolitan Home, an upscale title focusing on a contemporary aesthetic, plunged 34% in 2009, according to Media Industry Newsletter. Published 10 times a year, the magazine had a circulation rate base—the number of copies guaranteed to advertisers-of 550,000 copies, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Hachette will also be shutting down Pointclickhome.com, the umbrella site it launched in 2007 for all three of its shelter magazines at the time, Home, Metropolitan Home and Elle Décor, a spokeswoman said. ElleDecor.com, currently part of Pointclickhome.com, will remain as Hachette's only shelter site.
The Wall Street Journalsays other home decor titles that have closed in today's tough climate for publishers include Time Inc.'s Cottage Living, Meredith Corp.'s Country Home and Condé Nast Publications' Domino.
Most people who buy a Roomba from iRobot use it to clean their floor. The guys at Roomba Pacman decided a better use for the Roomba would be to turn it into a Pac-Man game. They write, "What better use for automatic home appliances than to have them chase each other in classic video game style?"
They have made the Roombas look like Pac-Man and ghosts and have even created a Pac-Man maze on the floor. Take a look:
The Wall Street Journalreports that Stanley Works in acquiring Black & Decker for $4.5 billion. The merger involves well-known tools and hardware brands including Stanley, Black & Decker, FatMax, DeWalt, Bostitch, Porter-Cable, Facom, Emhart Teknologies, Proto, Kwikset, Mac Tools and more.
The companies expect the combination will result in savings of $350 million a year and see the deal adding $1 a share to earnings by the third year.
They also touted their complementary products and market fits. Black & Decker's position in power tools, security hardware products and engineered fasteners has no significant overlap with Stanley's product and service offerings in hand tools and mechanical and electronic security products, the companies said.
John F. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive of Stanley, will be president and CEO of the combined company. Black & Decker leader Nolan D. Archibald will be executive chairman for three years.
Bloombergreports that there will be job cuts. Stanley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Lundgren told Bloomberg that fewer than 4,000 jobs - 10% of total positions at the combined company - will be cut. Stanley and Black & Decker have already set up an informational website about the merger at stanleyblackanddecker.com.
Godiva has partnered with Laura Slatkin for a line of chocolate scented candles. The candles are Godiva's first foray into the home fragrance category. Pictured above is the Godiva Milk Chocolate Truffle Candle. Other candle scents include Peppermint Bark, Almond Truffle, Chocolate Magnolia and Raspberry Ganache.
These candles seem highly likely to boost one's chocolate consumption. The candles retail for $22.50 and can be purchased online at Neiman Marcus. Belk, Dillard's and select Godiva stores will also carry them.
Marketwatch reports that new home sales have fallen after five straight months of gains. New home sales fell 3.6% in September, 2009 compared to August, 2009 and 7.6% compared to September, 2008.
The decline in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 was well below the 438,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. New-home sales in August were revised to a 417,000 level compared with the previous estimate of 429,000. This is the first decline in new home sales after five consecutive monthly gains. New-home sales are down 7.8% compared with a year ago.
This news combined with yesterday's report of falling consumer confidence has sent stocks falling but it is not surprising considering that new jobs are not being created to pull the economy out of the recession.
Anthropologie is expanding and opened its first European store in London this week. The new 10,000 square foot store opened on Regent Street in London. A second London store will open this spring.
A handful of people clustered around the doors before the shop opened today, but when they were let in there was more polite browsing than a mad rush for key pieces. Anthropologie, a sister brand to Urban Outfitters, is known for unusual, quirky designs and has grown from one store in Philadelphia to 130 stores across North America. It specialises in vintage style clothes, accessories, jewellery, notebooks, decorations and homeware. The centrepiece of the London shop is a living green wall of plants that stretches over three floors.
The Guardian has a photo gallery of the new store. Here is a video of the new store's ground floor uploaded by a YouTube user. Take a look:
Bodum's new Bistro Flatbed Toaster is a flatbed toaster with no slots. Your bread or bagels rest on the toaster's surface. A dial controls the temperature and desired level of browning. The toaster also has a slide-out crumb tray.
This is the slotless toaster that can toast any type of bread, regardless of its thickness. Since bread is placed directly on the heated flatbed surface--not inside narrow slots--you can toast thick bagels or croissants, Texas toast, or baguettes. The unit has a 700-watt heating element that radiates through the 10 1/4" x 7" stainless-steel surface, browning or defrosting bread quickly and evenly. You can select your preferred level of browning with the turn of a dial and the under-mounted crumb tray slides out for fast, easy cleanup. When not in use, the slotless toaster can be stored on its side, freeing up valuable counter space.
The slotless toaster can be purchased in black here on Hammacher.com for $89.95. The toasters are also available in different colors here on the Bodum.com website.
There are a few retailers that offer breakfast to early shoppers on Black Friday. IKEA is one of them. IKEA is running its 
CNN 
Reuters 
Metropolitan Home magazine is ceasing publication its December issue. The Pointclickhome.com website will also bec losed. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. has decided to close the magazine and focus on Elle Decor instead. Crain's New York 
The Wall Street Journal 
