U.S. housing market stuck in soft patch; confidence rises

WASHINGTON - U.S. homebuilding tumbled to a more than two-year low in December as construction of both single and multi-family housing declined, the latest indication that the economy had lost momentum in the fourth quarter.

“Regardless, the economy is moderating ... which means the Fed should be able to maintain its cautious approach to monetary policy,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. The release of the December housing starts and building permits report was delayed by a 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government that ended on Jan. 25. No date has been set for the release of January’s report.

A second report from the Conference Board on Tuesday showed its consumer confidence index increased 9.7 points to a reading of 131.4 in February after being held back by financial market volatility and the government shutdown. Slowing house price inflation was also corroborated by a fourth report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showing house prices rose 0.3 percent on a monthly basis in December after advancing 0.4 percent in November.

Property Property Latest News, Property Property Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

HUD official tours public housing, gets stuck in elevatorLynne Patton and 10 other people including reporters were trapped in an elevator at the Frederick Douglass Houses in Manhattan for about 10 minutes when someone accidentally hit the alarm switch. The group had to be freed by firefighters. Didn't Ben Carson get stuck in an elevator, too-real bright people that work there at HUD... While I am not a Trump supporter nor do I agree with much that LynnePattonHUD says, I do find it admirable that she would be willing to spend four weeks living in the same housing complexes that her policies will affect. 10 hours might have provided a life lesson, but 10 minutes?
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »