Economy/Ecommerce

The unemployment rate dropped, and the apartment vacancies are at a 10-year low.

Multifamily housing continues to be the best-performing commercial real estate segment, with rental rates and occupancy increasing, while supply remains relatively minimal.

Construction totals were up 1.2 percent month-over-month in November, with residential construction leading the way.

As the new year begins, the talk of the next European recession continues

Pending U.S. home sales gained more in November than during any month since the frenetic run-up to the homebuyers tax credit in the spring of 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.

After some worry that U.S. shoppers weren’t in such a jolly mood ahead of Christmas, at least in terms of how much they were willing to spend, it seems that on the whole retailers did well this holiday.

The housing market still has that sinking feeling, with the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indexes describing downward movements in prices in almost all major U.S. markets in October.

The pre-Christmas shopping numbers aren’t in yet but sales increased nationwide during the week ending Dec. 17, putting this December on track to have higher retail sales than December last year.