Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia saw something in September that not many places across the country have seen; an increase in home prices. Unfortunately, while the prices increased, the median sale price did fall a bit.

Sales were up almost 19% in September in the area from just a year ago; with the median sale price declining almost 5% to $371,568.

Houses in D.C. are also selling for most of what the owner is asking. The average sale price in the area was 92% of the asking price.

Seeing any area, particularly a large metro area gaining in sales of homes is a pretty good (and not outrageous) sign that the economy is doing a bit better than it was a year ago. Then again, a year ago, credit had completely frozen as the subprime crisis really took off.

As banks have begun to lend again, more homes have started to sell. As the homes start to sell, prices will gradually begin to rise again. The rise will be in areas where there are jobs and every list that I’ve read says the jobs are in Washington D.C. due to the amount of government jobs as well as all of the large companies that are headquartered there.

When I was in Maryland over the summer, it didn’t seem like the recession had hit there as bad as it looked in other parts of the country I have seen in the last year. For example, while Chris and I were in St. Louis in August, restaurants were basically empty at dinner time. It’s not like we were going to obscure places either. The only restaurant I noticed was busy the entire time we were there was a Cheesecake Factory in one of the larger malls in the area. In Maryland, everything was always busy it seemed. Shopping centers were full of cars usually and there weren’t a lot of empty businesses making it look like a ghost town.

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Just like at a funeral, at the beginning of the recession people were mourning. The clothes told the story: people would be wearing black and other drab colors while going to work. It was like that for the past year, ever since the fall of Lehman Brothers. Now, that things are finally starting to perk up a bit, those who have jobs are starting to wear colorful clothes again.

Men’s ties are being seen as an economic indicator. Because men’s ties are a cheap way to change a wardrobe, it is typically the first thing that outwardly indicates that, not only are these guys going out and buying clothes, but they are buying bight colors again.

This is just one of the many economic indicators that have been noted in the past few months. Another, and funnier in my opinion, indicator was the underwear index. Men were going out and purchasing more underwear and that was supposedly an indicator that the economy was going to perk up a bit more.

Another indicator is piles of garbage outside restaurants. The piles indicate that people are eating out again, which is one of the signs that the economy (really) is picking up again. Anytime people have disposable income to go to a restaurant and eat it is a good sign for not only the restaurant but the overall economy as well.

While a lot of data was used to compile this information, of course, some of it could be misread messages. Men could be wearing bright colored ties because it’s warm outside and they want to reflect the weather. Restaurants are using promotions to bring people in the doors more now than ever. Men need underwear and if they haven’t bought any new undies since the fall of Lehman Brothers, then perhaps it is time for them to get some new underpants.

I would like for the recession to see an end as much as everyone else, but are we grasping at straws by putting money into studies like this one?

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Starbucks has been having a very hard time in the current economy. Its sales of “premium” coffee and other beverages has been slipping so much that it has had to close 600 of its stores in July and has just announced the closing of 300 more stores.

So, how do you market something like Starbucks in the current economy? Looking at the company’s performance over several years leading up to the recession, it was doing very well. When times were good the company over expanded and is now facing the problems with it. With consumer spending down, consumers aren’t willing to spend their money on something they can make at home for less (and also don’t have to make an extra stop on the way to work).

I believe that it is time for Starbucks to adapt to the current economy and reflect it in its prices and offerings. Other restaurants have adapted and understand that right now consumers want less expensive offerings (or something they would consider a “deal”) not premium prices.