I thought this story was worth telling. Many small builders are paying a big penalty in this market.

The first six weeks of the year, contracts in my office were up approximately 100% above those same six weeks in 2008. A sign? Too soon to tell, but it's nice to see some good news!

Finally, some input from consumers backing up what I've come to believe about virtual tours. I'll grant you it's not a scientific sample. But I'm taking it as reinforcement!

I'm highly competitive by nature, although I hide it well! There's a listing contest in our office. Whoever gets the most new listings by the end of March wins. Here's the thing, I talk most sellers out of selling because in this market if you don't HAVE to sell in the next 12-24 months, you should probably not even try. But if you no someone who really does need to sell...I'd love to win!

CNBC had an analyst today reveal that there's been a sudden jump this week in insider purchases in homebuilders stock. Apparently, in a typical week there are 17 purchases by top executives at these firms of their own stock. This past week there were 47. That's a pretty big jump.

I don't know what they know that we don't. But it seems possible they're finally seeing something in the traffic in their new home communities over the last week or two that convinces them things are improving.

There's no way to know if their hunch is right, but they were confident enough to put money on it.

Interesting!