I met with a good friend of mine who deals in the financial sector in the UK today. It was great to see Andre - haven't seen him since last August when the markets went to hell!
The last time we met, I was just discovering that our largest health client had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy - it was a distraction during our regular board meeting in Toronto.
Today, we shared our war stories from across the Atlantic over the past year - strikingly similar timing over here. The markets were bad last fall, dismal in January and February. Andre noted that about March this year, things started to turn around - and July was the best month ever; nearly identical to our business's experience.
The real estate market in London and the UK is lagging, not because of lack of demand, but mainly because lending is still quite stalled. However, it is clear that, with countries like Japan, who announced yesterday that they have "exited" the recession, the financial markets are slowly recovering. Real estate typically lags, so there is still a window of opportunity for those of you that missed the bottom of the S&P earlier this year. But, as you can see from the clear skies above London as seen from this picture of the "London Eye" - the opportunities in real estate won't last long.
Next month, Andre's firm is announcing a new offering in the markets, - at RealEstock, we are connecting with two new offerings through our US and Canadian partners in mortgages and real estate finance.
We're excited about the world market for financial connections and real estate opportunities - the timing is right. We'll continue to push RealEstock and The Connected Market Space technology and services to our "connected" market members and friends - so we can all enjoy the upside together. We're all ready!
Glad I crossed the pond to see what's going on here! It confirms my suspicion that the doors are clearly open for the right connections
Thanks for the coffee Andre - see you back in London in a couple of months!
Cheers Tim