by Valorie H. Rice
Senior Specialist, Business Information
DATA RELEASES AS OF 16 FEBRUARY 2018
Housing affordability in most Arizona metropolitan areas was better than the U.S. average in the fourth quarter 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. Nationally, 59.6% of new and existing homes sold in the fourth quarter were affordable to those earning the U.S. median income of $68,000. The most affordable metro area in Arizona was Sierra Vista-Douglas, where the share of the homes within the means of families earning local median income was 79.4%. In line after that were Yuma with 77.6%, Tucson 72.7%, Lake Havasu City-Kingman 64.8%, and Phoenix 63.1%. At 47.7%, Prescott was the least affordable metro listed for Arizona and was the only one less affordable than the U.S. average. Flagstaff was not recorded in the fourth quarter report.
The U.S. trade deficit continued to grow in December, rising to $53.1 billion, up from a revised $50.4 billion in November. The joint U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Census Bureau February 6 release indicated that exports rose $3.5 billion to $203.4 billion. This was offset by an increase of $6.2 billion in imports over the month. The 2017 goods and services deficit increased 12.1% over 2016.
The Consumer Price Index increased 0.5% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the February 14 Bureau of Labor Statistics release. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3% for the month. Annual inflation rate was 2.1% for January.
Producer prices rose 0.4% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis. Final demand goods were up 0.7% and final demand services increased 0.3%. Producer prices changed 2.7% over the year according to the February 15 Bureau of Labor Statistics release.
