Home prices continued to power ahead, with the Case-Shiller price index rising 11.2%, the fastest appreciation since 2006.
Job market momentum seems to have picked up as the vaccine is becoming more widely available across the country, with thirty-two states reporting a decrease in new claims for the week ending March 20, 2021.
Although mortgage rates continued to rise this week, expect rates to remain low near 3.3% in 2021.
With demand for homes outpacing new listings, buyer competition continues to intensify.
The Census Bureau reported a 9.5% year-over-year increase in U.S. retail trade sales in February, a deceleration from the very strong holiday quarter and January’s 10.8% year-over-year increase.
A year after the pandemic hit our country, jobless claims remain elevated near 800,000. Although claims are significantly lower than the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 3 times as many people applied to receive unemployment benefits last week compared to pre-pandemic.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed rate home loan ticked up to 3.09% from 3.05% last week. However, a year after the pandemic struck our country, mortgage rates are still hovering into record lows around 3%.
U.S. retail and food services sales, a measure of consumer purchases at stores, restaurants and online, declined in February from the prior month. This is not concerning because it sank from an untypical January high.
At the national level, housing affordability increased in January 2021 both compared to a year ago and compared to December 2020.
Food service and drinking place sales increased 6.9% in January 2021 from December 2020 as some state and local authorities eased COVID-related restrictions.
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