Who could have predicted 243 years ago that the United States would become the largest global economy? A big reason for our success is our vast amount of land and natural resources, but how do we use these 1.9 billion acres of real estate? It turns out that we use most of our land for cows, and for crops to feed cows. Even though total acreage of urban areas is growing by a million acres annually, it still accounts for less than 4% of our land. The though the top 10 urban areas make up over 40% of our GDP.
Rates – held steady again this week as the 10 Year US Treasury continues to trade in a narrow range.
Jobs – 224,000 jobs were created in May which is 64,000 higher than expectations. The unemployment rate ticked up 0.1% due to an increase in people entering the labor force (not job decline). Average hourly and weekly earnings held steady from the previous report showing no signs of inflation – a good sign for mortgage rates.
Appreciation: CoreLogic predicts home prices across the nation will rise by 5.6% over the next 12 months. If you own a $400,000 home they predict it will be worth $422,400 next year. Historically CoreLogic tends to be on the conservative side. This speaks to strength in demand for housing.