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Each day the Research staff takes a look at recently released economic indicators, addressing what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses jobless claims and the FHFA House Price Index.
- Today’s report on jobless claims is mixed. While the new claims are down 9,000 for the last week, last week’s 4,000 upward revision brings the claims at 423,000. Economists generally suggest that claims below 400,000 indicate expansion of the workforce.
- The 4-week-average increased only slightly in the last week, however it is still 17,000 claims higher than was in mid-August. Continuing claims continued to fall, with a 28,000 drop to 3.727 million. Assuming new jobless claims do not continue increasing, NAR expects about 1.5 net new jobs in the next 12 months.
- Separately, FHFA House Price Index data released today, which captures July prices, showed an 0.8 percent increase from June to July on a seasonally adjusted basis. Year-over-year, home prices across the country fell 3.3 percent.
- The house price index is currently at roughly the same level as it was in March 2004. Regionally, price changes differed. The largest jump of 3.6 percent from June to July was in the West North Central region, while South Atlantic saw a 0.4 percent decline. The FHFA House Price Index has been on a continuous rise since April of this year.
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