Page 7 - atoday
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Wednesday 28 October
US Financial Front:
American home values and rents defying global slowdown
JOSH BOAK which have risen just 2.2 A “sold” sign is posted outside a Harbor Beach neighborhood na, a struggling Europe
C. S. RUGABER percent from a year ago. home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Standard & Poor’s released its 20- and tumult in emerging
AP Economics Writers For now, homes in tech city home price index for August on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. economies such as Brazil
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hubs with a high concen- have hampered a world
housing appears to be tration of good-paying (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) that is still battling its way
insulated so far from the jobs appear to be the out of the 2008 financial
cooling global economy. main beneficiaries of rising same time, those high of 13.3 percent. The year- crisis.
Home values and rental prices. S&P reported that rental prices sparked some over-year increase in Au- Not every area of the
prices are steadily rising, San Francisco and Denver new construction, which gust was even higher — United States is benefiting.
fueled by strong demand both enjoyed a 10.7 per- has created more apart- 14.2 percent. Rental price growth has
and a tight supply of avail- cent year-over-year jump ments and tempered the The housing market’s over- slowed in areas at the epi-
able properties, a pair of in home values, the larg- rental-price appreciation all gains are defying the center of the oil and natu-
reports Tuesday showed. est of any city. Portland, in recent months. impact of a sluggish global ral gas industry, according
The solid demand drove Oregon’s annual gain of The median rent in San economy. to Zillow.
sales growth early this 9.4 percent was the third- Francisco was $3,348 last Falling commodity prices, Average oil prices have
year and spurred addi- largest. month, a yearly increase weakened growth in Chi- nearly halved in the past
tional construction. “Prices are rising the fast- year to $44 a barrel. Hous-
The Standard & Poor’s/ est in markets where job ton’s rental costs are up 5.8
Case-Shiller 20-city home growth and net migration percent over the past 12
price index climbed 5.1 are the strongest and in- months, down from annual
percent in the 12 months ventories are the tightest,” growth above 6 percent.
that ended in August — said Mark Vitner, an econ- Price appreciation has also
a level many economists omist at Wells Fargo Securi- slipped in Dallas and Tulsa.
view as more sustainable ties. “Portland is an excel- But the S&P index shows
than the sharp double- lent example.” that home values have
digit gains at the start of Those same metro areas advanced a solid 8.9 per-
2014. were among the lead- cent in Dallas over the past
And in September, medi- ers in the rental increases year, a sign of resilience in
an rents nationwide rose tracked by Zillow. At the the heart of Texas.q
a seasonally adjusted 3.7
percent from a year ago, US consumer confidence slips in October
according to real estate
data firm Zillow. As with JOSH BOAK ing much in the near-term,” September and 136,000 Many economists say that
home prices, the pace AP Economics Writer said Lynn Franco, director jobs in August, after rou- overall growth has been
of rent increases appears WASHINGTON (AP) — of economic indicators at tinely chalking up monthly muted in during the most
more stable than the Americans turned slightly the Conference Board. net jobs gains in excess recent financial quarter.
sharper increases earlier more anxious about the job Fewer people surveyed of 200,000. Global pres- The private forecaster Mac-
this year. market this month. for the business research sures have shifted more of roeconomic Advisers said
Still, while three years of The Conference Board’s group described jobs as the burden for economic Monday that annualized
solid hiring and low mort- consumer confidence in- “plentiful” compared to growth onto U.S. consumers economic growth in the
gage rates have bol- dex fell to 97.6 in October, September, with that mea- — an uneasy transition in July-September quarter is
stered real estate, further down from a nine-month sure slipping to 22.2 per- recent months. Auto sales, tracking 1.5 percent, down
gains will likely require high of 102.6 in September. cent from 24.8 percent. home-buying and spend- from 3.9 percent in the prior
better pay for workers. “Consumers still rate cur- The decline likely reflects ing at restaurants have quarter. Consumer spend-
Increases in home values rent conditions favorably, the results of two consecu- advanced. But continued ing accounts for 70 percent
continue to exceed av- but they do not anticipate tive jobs reports. Employers gains will hinge in part on of all U.S. economic activ-
erage annual earnings, the economy strengthen- added just 142,000 jobs in steady job gains. ity. q
