National Confidence and Sales are Warming Up

Looks like the housing market is showing some real signs of life again. New home sales bumped up in February and are up over 5% compared to last year. Prices have dropped about 10% from their 2022 peak, which is helping more buyers get back in the game. Builders are also catching up—there are now way more finished homes available than there were during the housing crunch a couple years ago.

We’re also seeing more people signing contracts on existing homes. The experts at the National Association of Realtors think those numbers will keep climbing, with new home sales expected to rise even more than existing ones. Home prices are still rising, but not by much—and that’s actually a good thing. Slower price growth plus more homes for sale could finally give buyers a bit of breathing room.

Over in the stock market, things have been bumpy thanks to headlines about tariffs and inflation. That’s been shaking consumer confidence a bit. But even with all the noise, people are still spending money, and businesses are still investing. So the economy, for now, seems to be holding steady.

Mortgage rates dipped just a bit recently, which is always welcome news. And there’s talk that the Fed might even cut rates this summer if things stay on track. That could really open the door for more buyers to jump in.

In summary, I’d say it’s not a boom, but it’s definitely not a bust either. Things are slowly moving in the right direction—and that’s not bad at all.