Consumer confidence is up since the elections, and stock markets are booming, however as far as actual economic conditions, nothing has really changed, according to the Federal Reserve’s beige book, an article by Greg Robb for MarketWatch stated.
On the other hand, the uncertainty the election caused was blamed as the reason for housing market uncertainty in the Cleveland area, according to the article.
From the article:
The unemployment rate has fallen steadily over the past few years but workers have yet to see much benefit. Wages have just kept pace with inflation.
Even in this report, overall wage growth remained “modest, on balance,” the Fed said. This trend has been in place for much of the year.
Overall, the beige book found continued modest to moderate growth in the economy.
Another encouraging sign is the increase in residential construction in several metropolitan areas.
From the beige book:
Residential real estate activity improved across Districts. Reports about existing- and new-home sales were mixed, but most Districts noted a slight to modest increase during the period. Residential construction was up in the Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Dallas districts.
Despite these construction increases, however, the market still struggled with low inventory.
From the beige book:
As in recent months, residential real estate markets in the First District showed healthy buyer activity with increasing strains on inventory. Closed sales for single-family homes and condos were mixed, with moderate year-over-year increases in some states and moderate decreases in others (five of the six First District states as well as the Boston metro area reported year-over-year changes from September 2015 to September 2016; Maine reported changes from October 2015 to October 2016).
