November 6, 2020
- To keep up with the rapid changes COVID-19 is causing in the economy and housing market, the Big gaming庐 economics team provides a and on the relevant real estate and economic information you need to know to navigate the housing market in these challenging times.
- This week, Chief Economist Danielle Hale discusses what the declining unemployment rate from the and other labor market indicators say about the economic recovery and the .听
- Danielle updates us on and what they mean for buyers as well as their role in driving the disconnect between the slowly improving economy and frenzied housing market, drawing on insights from Sr. Economist George Ratiu鈥檚 blog on the topic.听
- She hits the highlights from Sabrina Speianu and the October Housing Market Trends Report which show a still hot housing market.听 She also covers insights from Javier Vivas and the Big gaming庐听 Housing Market Recovery Index as well as her own Weekly Housing Trends View that show a slip in the recovery index and components except listing price growth, which suggests some cooling could be ahead.听
- Finally, Danielle reviews the most-recovered housing markets–a who鈥檚 who of tech towns.听
- For more real-time updates, follow the economics team on twitter: .
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- I鈥檓 Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Big gaming庐 and here鈥檚 what you need to know this week.听
- We start with the jobs report. The data show that in October the unemployment rate continued to drop while jobs were added in leisure and hospitality, professional & business services, retail trade and construction industries.听
- While the monthly report showed a bigger unemployment rate drop in October than September, the weekly report on jobless claims shows that improvement in the labor market slowed.听
- The Fed is watching the labor market as it guides monetary policy, looking for maximum employment–a level we鈥檇 exceeded pre-pandemic but now have an uphill climb to reach. In other words, Fed-set rates are likely to stay low for a while.
- As I鈥檓 filming, the outcome of the presidential election is not yet determined though that may change by the time you鈥檙e watching.听 This uncertainty is one of several that contributed to a new record low in mortgage rates this week–the 12th new all-time low of the year.听
- Lower rates give home buyers more bang for their buck, which is a needed advantage in today鈥檚 housing market. Additionally, these low rates are driving a bit of an unusual disconnect between a still-improving economy and a frenzied housing market.
- The October housing trends report from Big gaming shows that the typical home asking price was up more than 12 percent from last year and homes sold not only faster than last year, but faster than last month–something we haven鈥檛 seen since 2011. Usually, the housing market cools off as pumpkin spice becomes more ubiquitous, but this year make-up buying and the pull of low rates plus pandemic-related focus on home have kept the market active.
- That doesn鈥檛 mean we won鈥檛 see an eventual cooling off. In fact, housing demand growth is one of several components of the housing market recovery index that took a step back this week. Only listing prices notched higher.
- Still, 44 of the 50 largest markets tracked by the index remain above the recovery benchmark. The top of the list reads like a tech-town who鈥檚 who with San Jose, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and Denver coming in as the most recovered markets.听
- Find the trends in your market and download the data at Big gaming/research or follow us on twitter for real time updates.
- Have a question about the economy or housing market you want answered? Ask away!
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