Two bits of news are worth mulling over as the real estate industry braces itself for an unpredictable spring selling season that could go either way. Energy costs are up and jobs are teetering.

Crude oil prices have hit the $100 mark for the first time, and have hovered near there since. That's more than twice the price of crude only five years ago. Heating oil prices will be higher almost immediately, and consumers will face $4 per gallon gas in less than two months. As consumers cut back on their disposable spending to pay for higher energy costs, the next thing to happen is job loss, and it's coming already.

A report from Automated Data Processing, Inc. suggests that private sector employers added only 40,000 jobs in December. Worse, the Labor Department reports that unemployment benefits are at their highest levels in two years.

It's more than contradictory -- manufacturers are losing jobs while services are adding.

A nation of consultants without customers can only last so long.

Everything from your cheap Chinese-labor goods to airline travel will cost more, and there's not much more room to cut in pricing. In the Wal-Martization of America, things are about as cheap as they can get, unless, of course, our CEOs' gigantic paychecks are reduced, and we know that's not going to happen.

When prices go up and paychecks disappear, people stop discretionary spending, down, especially when they're already at zero savings and thousands in debt to credit card companies.

The problem with that is that we're more reliant on imports, and with production, delivery and oversight costs certain to increase, we won't be buying foreign goods either.

Made in America is a thing of the past.

That means a recession and more job loss. Consumers will have to be wooed back to the mall, and the only way to do that is to make borrowing money to pay for stuff you don't really need more attractive.

The only possible outcome is that consumer interest rates will drop further by spring. You'll see zero financing on cars and on credit card teasers. Mortgage interest rates will also bottom, which is great for home buyers and refinancing homeowners.

The housing picture will be a tale of two cities. It will get worse for those impacted by job loss, but it will be great for those waiting for better homebuying conditions.

Lower home prices, high inventories, and low interest rates are the homebuyer's trinity.

Smart buyers should act now, before the speculators jump back in and run housing prices back up again.