Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Pandemic Brings Surge of New Retail Investors

Fri, 05 February 2021  |  investing 

In a year when a pandemic gripped the world, beginning and experienced retail investors flocked to the stock market using taxable, non-retirement investment accounts, according to new research by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) and NORC at the University of Chicago.

The study, Investing 2020: New Accounts and the People Who Opened Them, found that market dips that made stocks cheaper to buy and the ability to invest with small amounts were among the top reasons younger and inexperienced investors reported entering the stock market. For respondents who op... Read More

Affordability Surprises First-Time Homebuyers

Wed, 03 February 2021  |  housing economy 

A new survey from realtor.com® found that more than two-thirds (68%) of shoppers were surprised by what they could actually afford for their first home. Forty-seven percent were surprised because their budget was larger than they thought, and 21% were surprised because it was less.

"The dramatic decline of mortgage rates in 2020 was a pleasant surprise for many buyers," said realtor.com® Senior Economist George Ratiu. "For first-time buyers, especially, the drop in the 30-year mortgage rate from 3.65 percent in March 2020 to a record-low of 2.65 percent in January has provided... Read More

2021 Housing Market Shaping Up to be Even Hotter than 2020

Wed, 03 February 2021  |  housing economy 

The extreme pandemic-driven seller's market is intensifying and will likely last through the first half of the year, according to a new report from Redfin. In the week ending January 24, home-sale prices soared 18% and pending sales grew 28% from the same period last year. Fifty-five percent of homes that went under contract that week found a buyer in 14 days or less—the largest share to sell that quickly in at least nine years (Redfin data on this measure goes back through 2012).

"The main thing going on is scarcity of homes for sale. There's nothing there, so people want ... Read More

Private Sector Employment Increased by 174,000 Jobs in January

Wed, 03 February 2021  |  economy employment 

Private sector employment increased by 174,000 jobs from December to January according to the January ADP® National Employment Report™. Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody's Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP's actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

Total U.S. Nonfarm Private Employm... Read More

Americans Plan to Take an Additional Week of Vacation This Year

Wed, 03 February 2021  |  employment vacation 

Following a year where for many, every aspect of life – from work, school, daycare, and even vacation – was spent under one roof, in 2021 people worldwide are more determined than ever to use up all the vacation days they've earned. According to the annual Vacation Deprivation study from Expedia®, in 2021 Americans plan to take an extra week (five days) of vacation. With this new "no days left behind" mindset, Vacation Deprivation is well on its way to becoming a thing of the past.

Expedia first launched the annual study more than two decades ago to illustrate the benefits ... Read More

Annual US Home Price Appreciation in 2020 Outpaced 2019 Levels by 50%

Tue, 02 February 2021  |  housing 

The housing market exceeded expectations in 2020, closing out the year with the highest annual home price gain since February 2014 in December at 9.2% according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index. Despite a blip in April, home-purchase demand surged as record-low mortgage rates persuaded first-time homebuyers to enter the market. Meanwhile, the consequences of the pandemic were seen in the dwindling supply of homes — dropping, on average, 24% below 2019 levels — as homeowners delayed selling. ... Read More