U.S. home prices rose at a solid pace in December as rates remained low while inventories continued to decline. The S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose 2.9% annually in December, up from 2.5% in November, up 0.4% month over month from November to December. The National Index rose 3.8% in December from the 3.5% increase seen in November. At the end of January, there were 1.42 million homes on the market for sale, down 11% from a year ago.
The Conference Board reports that the Consumer Confidence Index improved slightly in February to 130.7 from 130.4 in January and below the 132.0 expected. Within the report it showed that the Present Situation Index, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, declined while the Expectations Index, based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions increased. Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators said, "Consumers’ short-term expectations improved, and when coupled with solid employment growth, should be enough to continue to support spending and economic growth in the near term.”
On the coronavirus front, China's case count continues to grow, but at a slower rate while South Korea and Italy's count has increased though no deaths were reported overnight. The country that is being watched closely with the virus is Iran, which has few border patrols, sketchy leadership, a fledgling economy and a weak health system. The coronavirus issues will continue to cast a cloud of uncertainty and will impact the U.S. financial markets until it's resolution, which at the moment, doesn't appear to be right around the corner. On the better news front, a report from CNBC this morning showed that more Chinese provinces are lowering their health-alert levels.
U.S. home prices increase. Consumer Confidence remains positive. Coronvirus headlines continues to impact global markets.
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