Saturday, June 28, 2025

US Consumer Confidence Up Sharply Again in April

Tue, 27 April 2021  |  consumers economy 

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® rose sharply again in April, following a substantial gain in March. The Index now stands at 121.7 (1985=100), up from 109.0 in March. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions—soared from 110.1 to 139.6. The Expectations Index—based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—rose moderately, from 108.3 last month to 109.8 in April.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is c... Read More

Urban Single-Family Homes Are Seeing the Fastest Price Growth

Tue, 27 April 2021  |  housing real estate 

Prices of urban single-family homes are rising nearly 20% year over year—faster than any other type of home—according to a new report from Redfin. But this year's hot housing market doesn't discriminate: Urban condo sales are up nearly 30% year over year, more than any other home type.

Key takeaways from Redfin's analysis, which looks at the housing market divided into five categories (urban single-family homes, suburban single-family homes, rural single-family homes, urban condos, suburban condos) during the 12 weeks ending April 4 include:

RV Shipments Reach All-Time High in First Quarter of 2021

Mon, 26 April 2021  |  travel 

The growing demand from Americans hungry for the freedom to travel and experience the great outdoors is clear. According to newly released data from the RV Industry Association’s March 2021 survey of manufacturers, more RVs made their way to RV dealerships across North America in March than in any prior single month. The 54,291 wholesale RV units shipped last month is more than a 5% increase over the previous record set in March of 2018. The March shipments also bring total RV shipments in the first quarter of 2021 to a record-breaking 148,507 units, the most RVs ever shipped in a singl... Read More

Job Satisfaction Remains High Despite Pandemic

Mon, 26 April 2021  |  employment pandemic 

In the face of the pandemic, an economic crisis, mass layoffs, and high unemployment, the percent of employees reporting overall satisfaction with their jobs remained high in 2020, according to a new survey from The Conference Board.

While some components of job satisfaction declined due to the recession and economic stress, companies devoted more efforts and resources toward supporting their employees, their well-being, and their families during the pandemic. This resulted in the surprising, albeit slight, increase in job satisfaction from 56.3 percent in 2019 to 56.9 percent in 20... Read More

Housing Gains Could Grow Black Wealth More Than $500 Billion in a Decade

Mon, 26 April 2021  |  demographics housing 

Incremental increases in homeownership rates and home values among Black households would help shrink the current $3 trillion racial wealth gap by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, according to a new Zillow analysis. Today's typical Black household has only about 23% of the wealth of a typical white household, down from 34.6% before the Great Recession. Housing factors -- including lower home values and rates of homeownership -- directly account for nearly 40%2 of that gap, with assets like investments in stocks and bonds and retirement accounts making up the rest. <... Read More

Home Listing Shortage May Be Turning Around

Fri, 23 April 2021  |  housing 

New data in Zillow's® Monthly Market Report1 suggests the inventory crunch bedeviling home searchers may be starting to turn around as record appreciation of home values makes it more enticing to sell. Meanwhile, the recovery of rents is gaining broad momentum and touching double-digit annual gains in hot markets like Phoenix and Riverside.

Although continued demand for homes pushed total for-sale inventory down 1.1% in March, the monthly decline was the smallest seen since July. That's thanks to a rush of new inventory (rising 30% from late February to late March), which sign... Read More