Despite More Homes for Sale, Home Sales Decrease as High Mortgage Rates Hurt the Housing Market: Manufacturing Activity on the Rise in Philadelphia.

Despite a rise in the number of homes for sale in March, home sales decreased by 4.3% compared to February. This is partly due to the high mortgage rates that have been impacting the housing market for some time now. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage has reached almost 7%, which has discouraged many homeowners from putting their homes on the market. Although there was an increase of 14% in the number of homes for sale compared to a year ago, it remains significantly lower than the usual 1.7 million before the pandemic.

On a positive note, manufacturing activity is on the rise in Philadelphia. The industry index reached its highest level since April of the previous year, with over a third of firms reporting growth in activity. There were also signs of price increases in this sector, with around 26% of firms stating that they had increased prices and 12% indicating that they had raised production costs. These positive trends suggest that the Philadelphia area economy is slowly recovering from its downturn caused by the pandemic.