Home Prices Increased Less Than Expected

Group 1: Stock Market Overview - The stock market is influenced by various factors including housing, consumer spending, jobless claims, and earnings reports from companies like Lululemon and Dollar Tree, but upcoming tariffs on April 2nd could render current data obsolete [1] - Investor concerns about potential tariff rates ranging from 10% to 25% have been somewhat alleviated by President Trump's suggestion to narrow the scope of these tariffs, although uncertainty remains [2][3] Group 2: Housing Market Insights - The Case-Shiller Home Prices report for January shows an overall increase of 4.1%, slightly above the previous month but below estimates, with the 10-city index growing by 5.3% and the 20-city index increasing to 4.7% [4] - Major cities like New York City, Chicago, and Boston are experiencing significant home price growth, while Tampa is the only city reporting a decline of 1.5% [5] Group 3: Non-Manufacturing Data - The non-manufacturing Philly Fed data has dropped to -32.5, the lowest since May 2020, indicating a significant downturn, with a decline in new orders by nearly 33% contributing to this drop [6][7] Group 4: New Home Sales Expectations - New Home Sales for February are anticipated to rise to 677K from 657K, which would be the highest level since December, suggesting potential positive momentum in the housing market [8] - Existing Home Sales have exceeded expectations, reaching 4.26 million compared to the anticipated 3.95 million, indicating a robust housing market [9]