Home prices continued to push higher in February due in part to the ongoing theme of limited housing supply on the markets. CoreLogic reports that home prices, including distressed sales, rose 6.7% from February 2017 to February 2018 and were up 1% month over month from January to February. Looking ahead, CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will rise 4.7% year over year from February 2018 to February 2019.
Home equity hit an all-time high at the end of February due in part to rising home values. Black Knight Financial Services reports that tappable equity rose to $5.4 trillion at the end of February, up 10% from the previous peak in 2005. "Home prices continued their upward trajectory at the national level, the amount of tappable equity available to homeowners with mortgages continued to rise as well,” said Black Knight spokesperson Ben Graboske. “Tappable equity rose by $735 billion over the course of 2017, the largest dollar-value calendar year increase on record."
The closely watched Jobs Report for March will be released Friday morning where it is expected that employers added 175,000 new workers during the month. That expectation comes after the blowout number in January of 313,000 new positions added as the labor market continues to tighten. The 313,000 jobs created was the largest gain since July 2016 and came after a strong report in January where 239,000 Americans found work. What we need to see is a steady uptick in wage growth, which has been somewhat stagnant in past years.
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