President Donald Trump and Republicans are celebrating news suggestive of an economic rebound.
The Associated Press reports that the month of May saw recording-breaking gains in pending home sales in the United States, a fact of which the commander in chief and GOP leadership took swift notice.
The numbers are in
The economic downturn triggered by coronavirus lockdowns across the nation has taken a serious toll on million of Americans and the industry sectors that employ them.
Home sales were no exception, and during the period between March and April, the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) pending home sales index dropped 21.8%, down to 69, in a record-setting decline, according to the AP.
May, however, saw a massive upswing with that 69 shooting back up to 99.6. The rise represented a 44.3% rebound, which, according to NAR, is the highest month-over-month gain since the index began back in 2001.
But, that’s not the end of the good news.
Reason for optimism
Prior to the release of the NAR report on Monday, the Trump administration announced last week that the sales of new homes also surged in May, rising by an impressive 16.6%, the AP reported separately.
These types of numbers, both the sales of new homes and the pending home sales index, are better than most analysts expected. While it is unclear if there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship, May was the time when many areas of the country began easing coronavirus restrictions and returning to some semblance of normal.
It should be noted, however, that there are some areas of the housing sector that are not seeing as impressive a rebound. For example, May saw a 9.7% drop in sales of existing homes, according to the Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that despite some discrete areas of weakness in the real estate realm, there remains substantial cause for economic optimism.
Republicans celebrate
The good news was heralded Monday by Ronna Romney McDaniel, Republican National Committee chair in a social media post that was subsequently re-tweeted by the president himself.
“We are witnessing the Great American Comeback!” McDaniel tweeted. “Record-breaking rebound in home sales, coming on the heels of a record 2.5 MILLION jobs added in May. The positive economic news under @realDonaldTrump continues!”
Indeed, let’s hope it does.
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