Americans are starting to feel better about the economy.
The Conference Board’s April report on consumer confidence surged to a reading of 39.2, up 46% from the reading of 26.9 in March. The monthly gain was the fourth-biggest in the 32-year history of the survey. Economists had expected only a slight improvement to a reading of 28.8.
The survey’s expectations index surged to 49.5 in April from 30.2 in March, which was the biggest increase since the fall of Baghdad in the spring of 2003.
“Consumers believe the economy is nearing a bottom,” Lynn Franco, the director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, said in a statement. Still, the index “remains well below levels associated with strong economic growth.”
February’s consumer confidence reading was the second-lowest on record, following January’s miserable reading of 25.3, which was the worst on record.
A separate report on home prices also showed some improvement. Or at least, the bad news isn’t getting any worse.
Home prices fell 2.2% in February, according to the Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major metropolitan cities. The decline was an improvement from the 2.8% drop in January. Denver CO real estate saw a smaller drop of only 1.7% month over month and a decline of 5.7% annually, trailing only Dallas TX real estate which only saw an annual drop of 4.5%.
On a year-over-year basis, prices fell 18.6%, also a slight improvement from the 19% decline for the 12 months ending in January.
But February’s annual decline was the first in 16 months that was not a record low. Homebuilding stocks were mixed on the news.
On Wednesday, investors will get their first glimpse at how gross domestic product fared in the first quarter. Economists expect GDP to have contracted at a 4.9% annualized rate, which would be an improvement from the negative 6.3% rate seen in the fourth quarter.

Filed under: Denver Real Estate News