The United States Department of Labor reported a slowdown in job growth for the month of April bringing numbers to a seven-month low. Although a report like this may initially seem like cause for concern, it may not be when it comes to homes for sale in Port St. Lucie.

Home Sales on the Rise

In Florida, the housing market is on the rise including the homes for sale in Port St. Lucie real estate market. That is a positive sign for more than just the real estate market. When homes sell, buyers are feeling profitable. So although the job market may be cautiously moving forward, it still is showing positive growth as is the Florida real estate market and evidenced in homes for sale in Port St. Lucie.

Some of the most recent numbers on the Florida real estate housing market show:

  • Closed sales rose 0.3% in the first quarter of 2016 when compared to the first quarter of 2015.
  • Median sale price on closed sales was up 11.8% year – over – year.
  • Average sale price grew 7.1% year – over – year from $266,453 to $285,447.

Economists point out that closed sales are an important indicator of the health of a residential real estate market, like homes for sale in Port St. Lucie. The year – over – year change is the most telling because of the varying seasonal fluctuations that can affect sales during specific times of the year. Homes for sale in Port St. Lucie, like other parts of Florida, often see a peak in the fall, winter, and spring seasons as Northern visitors move South for those colder weather months.

In the past, the housing market has helped buoy the economy, creating new jobs and driving economic growth. Maybe it will do the same this year as time goes on. The latest predictions are for the Federal Reserve to hold off on raising interest rates which were anticipated to go up in June. Time will tell.

Job Expectations and Results

April’s job report was surprising for many. Analysts were expecting a net number of new jobs higher than the 160,000 new ones reported across the country that were added to both the private and public sector in April. In fact, economists had been hoping to see growth in the net of new jobs to reach about 200,000 in April, which would have helped bring down the unemployment rate to 4.9 percent. But, it didn’t happen.

The March numbers of 208,000 net of new jobs show a drop of 48,000 when compared to April. The stall maybe due in part to the slow 2016 financial start that experienced stocks dropping in January and picking back up in February. The see-saw ride during the first couple months of the year may be adding to the cautionary approach employers are taking.

The anemic quarterly growth is impeding the country’s economic growth making this time period the worst in two years with only a 0.5 percent annual pace reported.

Typically, when jobs slow it is an indication that businesses and employers are concerned about the health of the U.S. economy.

April did experience a decline in the number of people leaving the job market. Approximately 362,000 Americans stopped working in April making it the first decline since September in this area of the job market. This shift dropped the percentage of adults in the labor force to 62.8 percent, which is close to a four-decade low.

Positives for Unemployment and Wages

The rate of unemployment remained steady for April at 5 percent placing it at an eight-year low.

A bit of encouraging news for employees is that wage growth continued to remain solid, holding tight to last month’s eight cent increase and March’s raise of six cents with average hourly earnings of $25.53.

 

Florida Realty News
Florida Realty News
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty, a wholly-owned subsidiary of WCI Communities, has over 39 locations and more than 1,650 real estate sales professionals and team members serving 17 counties throughout Florida.
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