Landaas & Company newsletter  January edition now available.

No major releases

Housing inflation continued to slow in October. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national index rose 9.2% from its year-earlier measure. It was the seventh consecutive deceleration from a record high of nearly 21% in March. An economist with the Case-Shiller index said higher mortgage rates, fueled by Federal Reserve interest rate increases, remains a head wind for home prices.

The National Association of Realtors also blamed higher interest rates for a 4% decline in its pending home sales index. The drop was the sixth in the row for the index, which was down 38% from the year before and stood at the second lowest level in 20 years.https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/pending-home-sales-slid-4-0-in-november

The four-week moving average for initial unemployment claims fell for the third week in a row, suggesting ongoing strength in the labor market. The measure of employers’ willingness to let workers go was 40% below its 55-year average, according to Labor Department data. Total claims numbered more than 1.6 million, up 6% from the week before but down from 2.2 million the year before and 20.4 million at the same time in 2020.

No major releases

Not a Landaas & Company client yet? Click here to learn more.