The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 67.7 this month from 64.1 at the end of last month. Like many statistics of late, improvement continues, but still below average.
FSBO.com predicts the real estate market to improve in 2012, still below historic averages, but big improvements over 2010 & 2011
this forecast by TransUnion, one of the three credit bureaus. Delinquency rates (the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days behind on their payments) could drop to 5 percent. Well off the peak of 6.89 percent seen in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Jobs are important to improve the economy and housing. Today, the Labor Department reported that employers added 120,000 jobs in November after an increase of 100,000 positions in October. The labor market continues to heal, albeit slowly. Interest rates rose on this news. This should be the scenario all through 2012.
Construction spending, up for a third straight month, rose 0.8 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $798.5 billion, according to the Commerce Department. While an improvement, that’s barely half the $1.5 trillion that economists consider healthy.