Boston Condos for Sale and Apartment Rentals
Good News for Boston, MA
First, thanks to all the healthcare workers and first responders who have been – and still are – on the front lines saving lives. Thank you!
Here are five economic reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving. (Hat Tip to Neil Irwin who started doing this several years ago)
1) A Falling Unemployment Rate.
The unemployment rate was at 4.6% in October. The unemployment rate is down from 14.8% in April 2020 (the highest since the Great Depression).
The unemployment rate is down from 6.9% a year ago (October 2019).
2) Falling unemployment claims.
This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased to 252,250 – the lowest since March 2020.
This is a huge decline in regular unemployment claims.
3) Job Openings Near Series High.
There were 10.4 million job openings in September, just below the record 11.1 million in July 2021.
This graph shows job openings (yellow line), hires (dark blue), Layoff, Discharges and other (red column), and Quits (light blue column) from the JOLTS.
The number of job openings (yellow) were up 58% year-over-year.
Quits were up 34% year-over-year to a new record high. These are voluntary separations. (See light blue columns at bottom of graph for trend for “quits”).
A large number of job openings, and rising quits, are positive signs for workers.
4) Mortgage Debt as a Percent of GDP is much lower than during Housing Bubble
This graph shows household mortgage debt as a percent of GDP. Note this graph was impacted by the sharp decline in Q2 2020 GDP.
Mortgage debt increased by $222 billion in Q2 2021. This was the largest quarterly increase in mortgage debt since 2006.
Mortgage debt is up $573 billion from the peak during the housing bubble, but, as a percent of GDP is at 49.6% – down from Q1 – and down from a peak of 73.3% of GDP during the housing bubble.
5) Mortgage Delinquency Rate Declining Quickly
Two graphs for this one. The first graph, based on data from the MBA through Q3 2021, shows the percent of loans delinquent by days past due. Overall delinquencies decreased in Q3.
The sharp increase last year in the 90-day bucket was due to loans in forbearance (included as delinquent, but not reported to the credit bureaus).
The percent of loans in the foreclosure process declined further, and was at the lowest level since 1981.
And from Freddie Mac for October:
Freddie’s serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20% following the housing bubble, and peaked at 3.17% in August 2020 during the pandemic.
These are mortgage loans that are “three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure”. Mortgages in forbearance are being counted as delinquent in this monthly report, but are not reported to the credit bureaus.
Boston Condos for Sale and Apartment Rentals
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One of my bog readers emailed me this link regarding the economic outlook for Massachusetts. The article is titled Massachusetts: Best ‘New Economy State’
CNNMoney.com) — Massachusetts is the state best positioned for growth when the current economic turmoil recedes, according to the 2008 State New Economy Index released Tuesday.
Washington, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, California, New York and Colorado rounded out the top ten.
The study, issued by the nonpartisan think tank Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF),measures how effectively states operate in order to compete nationally and globally. It notes that states should be focused on whether their economies are well positioned for robust growth in the next decade, pointing out that innovation is central to state economic success.
For the full story click on the link below.
