The national unemployment rate held firm at 3.8 percent for the second month in a row, which is good news for an economy that has shown signs of slowing down during the first three months of 2019. Hiring and wage gains have both been below expectations, retail sales dropped considerably to close 2018, and there have been fewer home sales across the nation. Maintaining a historically low unemployment rate is reassuring and may offer confidence to many wary and weary consumers.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending March 30:

• New Listings increased 18.6% to 1,470
• Pending Sales decreased 3.1% to 1,151
• Inventory decreased 4.3% to 8,657

For the month of February:

• Median Sales Price increased 6.2% to $265,500
• Days on Market remained flat at 69
• Percent of Original List Price Received decreased 0.3% to 97.7%
• Months Supply of Homes For Sale remained flat at 1.7

All comparisons are to 2018

Click here for the full Weekly Market Activity Report. From MAAR Market Data News.