March 7, 2025
- The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
- For the week ending March 7, Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale discusses the latest jobs report, as well as mortgage rates, housing inventory, the hottest housing markets, and an upcoming trip to Austin for SXSW.
- Jobs data showed that unemployment edged higher as companies added workers to payrolls and wages were up 4%.
- Mirroring a dip in treasury yields, mortgage rates dropped for a 7th straight week to 6.63%.
- Danielle reviews the Realtor.com weekly housing inventory data on new listings and active inventory as well as highlighting the addition of weekly data on major metros where federal government employees are a large share of the workforce, a follow-up to the Realtor.com February Housing Trends report that looked at government layoffs and housing and found no effects to date.
- Danielle discusses the February Hottest Housing Markets report and what’s new (the number one market) and what’s not (the list is still dominated by markets in the Northeast and Midwest) this month as well as a finding from Hannah Jones that signals the seller friendliness of many of these markets.
- And finally, Danielle is headed to Austin! Realtor.com is hosting a series of panel discussions at SXSW aimed at tackling America’s housing shortage. If you’re in Austin, you’re welcome to stop by and say hi! If you can’t join in person, the events will be live-streamed. [March 8 Live Stream and March 10 Live Stream] RSVP here.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. As March roars in like a lion–at least outside my window this week–I’m going to discuss the latest jobs report, as well as mortgage rates, housing inventory, the hottest housing markets, and my upcoming trip to Austin for SXSW.
- It’s the first Friday of March and that means jobs data. Unemployment edged higher even as companies still added workers to payrolls. Importantly, wages rose by 4%–high enough to propel real wage growth, but not so high as to raise inflation concerns.
- It’s worth noting that data for the jobs report was collected in mid-February, when stocks were near all-time highs. The drop in financial markets since then signals investor concerns over future growth, some of which may be driven by an uptick in policy uncertainty.
- One upside of the uncertainty is that it has increased interest in safe haven investments. Earlier this week the 10-year yield was down more than 60 basis points from its January peak. Mirroring this move, mortgage rates dropped for a 7th straight week to 6.63%, a welcome move as homebuying season approaches.
- In the housing market, Realtor.com weekly housing inventory showed that new listings growth was too modest to power acceleration in inventory growth which registered just below last week’s pace. On the plus side, buyers still have substantially more homes to choose from compared to last year and prices have trended relatively flat as homes are taking longer to sell.
- As a follow-up to the Realtor.com February Housing Trends report that looked at government layoffs and housing, we’ve added weekly housing metrics tracking for the 5 major metros where federal government employees are a large share of the workforce. As of this week, there is still no evidence of a slowdown in these markets. It’s also worth noting that in late 2024, these areas had lower unemployment rates than most other markets.
- I have two last highlights for this week. First – the February Hottest Housing Markets report is out, and Hartford, Connecticut edged Manchester, New Hampshire out of the number one spot. Despite the drama at the top, there’s a lot of stability on the list which continues to be dominated by Northeast and Midwest markets. As Hannah Jones noted in the report, one of the hallmarks of these in-demand markets is that sellers are in good position and we see fewer price cuts in several of them.
- And finally, I’m headed to Austin! Realtor.com is hosting a series of panel discussions at SXSW aimed at tackling America’s housing shortage. I’ll be joined by other experts, builders, and policy makers to talk not only about why this matters, but where there are opportunities to make some real headway. If you’re in Austin, please stop by and say hi! If you can’t join in person, the events will be live-streamed. [March 8 Live Stream and March 10 Live Stream] RSVP here.
- You can find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly twitter) for real time updates. And instagram for graphics.
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