The stock market has given our business community and investors a bumpy ride so far this year. Inflation rates are nearing 8%, a near-record, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is adding additional uncertainty.
It’s no secret that watching investments take a tumble has been uncomfortable – especially after several years of significant gains, some hovering around 20%.
The key to stability and success is to keep your eye on your timeline. It’s true that historically, the stock market always takes a hit when a global military conflict is launched. We saw this happen during the conflict in Afghanistan, Desert Storm, and Iraq. During each of these geopolitical events, the US stock market immediately realized a decline as the uncertainty caused market volatility and created issues with political and economic confidence.
Still, it’s important to remember that the U.S. stock market is resilient. Shortly after each of those historical conflicts, the market recovered quickly. Dayton’s business community is patient, and will be rewarded for waiting out the discomfort. We’ll avoid knee-jerk reactions and continue executing our business plans. It is this tenacity and disciplined business modeling that got our Dayton-area business community through the pandemic (That’s right – I’m saying we are past the pandemic) and has allowed our region to emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever before.
The regional housing market is robust, and we haven’t seen any sign that home prices will reverse course. Housing prices in the Dayton region have increased 11.5% in 12 months, and have made up for the housing slump of 2007-2009. Experts believe this increase has been a correction of the market, putting housing prices in an acceptable range for our market.
Demand for housing isn’t slowing either. Baby Boomers currently own the largest share of real estate in the United States, but Millennials are now a larger population, and are in the prime home-buying stage of their life. In fact, 37% of all home buyers today are Millennials. That leaves us with a nationwide housing shortage of about 4 million homes, according to the federal government.
National events and demographic shifts like we are facing today can have a short-term impact on regional businesses and investments, but it’s important to stay the course. Don’t let the national and global political drama affect your local investments. The Dayton region is strong, growing, and not stopping anytime soon. If our business community and investors hold the line, look forward, and invest strategically, our region will succeed.
Chris Kershner, CAE
President & CEO
Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce
Download a PDF of this article as it appeared in the Dayton Daily News.
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