{"id":5107,"date":"2024-04-06T05:46:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T05:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/u-s-sees-robust-job-growth-but-the-housing-market-could-suffer\/"},"modified":"2024-04-06T05:46:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T05:46:14","slug":"u-s-sees-robust-job-growth-but-the-housing-market-could-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/u-s-sees-robust-job-growth-but-the-housing-market-could-suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Sees Robust Job Growth\u2014but the Housing Market Could Suffer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Despite fears of a looming recession<\/a>, unemployment remains low. That\u2019s both very good and very bad for the housing market.<\/p>\n

The U.S. added more than 300,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department<\/a> reported on Friday. That brought the unemployment rate down to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.<\/p>\n

A low unemployment rate is good for the housing market because most people don\u2019t buy homes if they\u2019re unemployed\u2014or worry they\u2019re about to be laid off.<\/p>\n

However, it also means the U.S. Federal Reserve may hold off cutting interest rates for a little longer as it tries to bring inflation down to its 2% target. This is expected to keep mortgage rates higher<\/a> for longer. (While mortgage rates are separate from the Fed\u2019s rates, they typically follow the same trajectory.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a mixed bag,\u201d says Danielle Hale<\/strong>, chief economist of Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>. \u201cThe weaker the labor market appears, the more likely we\u2019ll see rate cuts sooner. But the more likely it is people will struggle to find jobs and not be interested in making large purchases like homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mortgage rates averaged 6.82% in the week ending April 4, according to Freddie Mac<\/a>. That\u2019s down about a percentage point from the fall, when rates were nearing 8%.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s far from rates in the high 5% and low 6% ranges that many homebuyers\u2014already dealing with high prices<\/a> and fierce competition over a limited supply of homes on the market\u2014had been dreaming of this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome had been hoping that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its June meeting,\u201d Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant<\/strong> said in a statement. The multiple listing service covers the mid-Atlantic region. \u201cHowever, with today\u2019s strong jobs report, it is all but certain that the first rate cut won\u2019t be before July. As a result, mortgage rates are likely going to stay elevated for longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

That could be a challenge for buyers as the housing market kicks off in earnest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomebuyer demand is still strong, but there will be some prospective homebuyers who are going to wait for rates to come down later this year,\u201d Sturtevant said. \u201cThe traditionally busy spring housing market could be pushed into summer\u2014or even into the fall\u2014if buyers hold out for the Fed\u2019s rate cut and subsequent drops in mortgage rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who do wait might find more homes available to purchase. About 39,000 people were hired in the construction industry in March. That is expected to translate into more homes going up at a time when they are desperately needed to ease the housing shortage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore housing supply is on the way in future months,\u201d Lawrence Yun<\/strong>, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors\u00ae, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The post U.S. Sees Robust Job Growth\u2014but the Housing Market Could Suffer<\/a> appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images Despite fears of a looming recession, unemployment remains low. That\u2019s both very good and very bad for the housing market. The U.S. added more than 300,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported on Friday. That brought the unemployment rate down to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. A low unemployment rate is good…Read More→<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}