U.S. economic activity was little changed from September through early October and firms saw a slight uptick in hiring, continuing recent trends that have reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will opt for a smaller 25-basis-point reduction in borrowing costs in two weeks.The U.S. central bank's latest temperature check on the health of the economy also showed that inflation pressures continued to moderate while input prices generally rose
More listings are coming to the real estate market, but home sales continue to be sluggish. Read more from NAR’s latest housing report.Home buyers may finally be finding more inventory options this fall, but they’re still being cautious about entering the real estate market, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.“Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a 4-million-unit pace for the past 12 months, but factors us
In the first of a two-part series, learn how you can stave off disputes in this potentially fraught type of transaction with clear, consistent communication.When a couple decides to divorce and there is real property involved, its sale cannot be treated as a normal transaction. While some divorces are amicable, the majority are not. In these cases, it’s all the more important for the listing agent selling the couple’s home to rise to the chal
US housing starts eased in September as a drop in multifamily projects outweighed a pickup in construction of single-family dwellings.Housing starts decreased 0.5% last month to a 1.35 million annualized rate, according to government data released Friday, after a big rebound in August. The September figure was in line with the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.Starts of single-family homes climbed 2.7% to an annual
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose for the third consecutive week.Mortgage rates are inching higher, but prospective home buyers needn’t be too spooked: Rates are still more than one percentage point lower than a year ago.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.44% this week, Freddie Mac reports. It marks the third consecutive week that rates have risen. Meanwhile, mortgage applications for home purchases dropped 7% in the last week as mor
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Retail sales saw a slight month-over-month drop in September 2024, but year-over-year consumer spending increased.According to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, as interest rates and inflation fell and employment rose, total retail sales, excluding automobiles and gasoline, were down 0.32% seasonally adjusted month-over-month. However, total retail sales grew 0.55% unadjusted year-over-year.These results compare with increases of 0.45% month-over-mont
The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in September, pointing to a vital employment picture as the unemployment rate edged lower, the Labor Department reported Friday.Nonfarm payrolls surged by 254,000 for the month, up from a revised 159,000 in August and better than the 150,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, down 0.1 percentage point.With upward revisions from previous months, the report eases conc
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.12% this week, Freddie Mac reports.After several weeks of declines, mortgage rates reversed course this week, inching up slightly. Still, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.12%, according to Freddie Mac, borrowing costs remain well below a year ago, when rates surged above 7%. Prospective home buyers may want to stop holding out for lower rates, experts say.“The decline in mortgage rates
As far as economic data goes, it was a bit of a stunner.Economists had expected U.S. employers to have added about 150,000 jobs in September. Instead, they created more than a quarter-million jobs last month, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department.Here are five things to know about Friday's surprisingly strong jobs report.Employers are still adding a lot of jobs In total, the U.S. added 2
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