Headline Retail Sales for September increased at a rate of 1.1% which more than doubled market forecasts of 0.5%. The Core Retail Sales (this excludes autos) also increased more than expected. It came in at 0.6% which was three times better than the market forecasts of 0.2%.
This is very important for the housing market because housing demand is very closely tied to consumer confidence. This brings up a very interesting point. Various consumer sentiment and consumer confidence reports have shown a recent dip in their readings. So, consumers are telling the survey takers that they feel less positive about the economy and that they are less willing to spend money. But those reports are based upon surveys.
Retail Sales are based upon real and actual sales. And clearly, consumers are spending more which means their economic outlook is positive and that is always a positive for the housing market.
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