Name: Consumer sentiment edges up as existing-home sales barely rise
Uploaded: 2025-12-19T18:24:15.969Z
Duration: 1 min 43 s
Description: U.S. consumer sentiment rose in December by less than expected and U.S. existing-home sales barely rose in November, with contract closings ticking up 0.5% to an annual rate of 4.13 million.

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in December by less than expected and U.S. existing-home sales barely rose in November, with contract closings ticking up 0.5% to an annual rate of 4.13 million.

Recent data from the University of Michigan indicates that consumer sentiment has edged up, though key measures remain low. One-year inflation expectations increased to 4.2%, while five to ten-year expectations held steady at 3.2%. The current conditions and expectations indices both saw slight declines, suggesting continued caution among consumers.

In the housing market, existing-home sales rose to an annual rate of 4.13 million, marking the highest level in nine months. While mortgage rates have eased slightly, the improvement in home sales is not considered sufficient to resolve broader economic concerns.

Consumer sentiment edges up as existing-home sales barely rise

Michael McKee is with us on set, our international economics and policy correspondent. And Mike, I just saw a stream of numbers come out on UMich. There's so many different levels. What do you think is most important? You break it, I fix it. I think at this point what we're looking for both is the headline number in terms of how are people feeling about the economy, but it's the inflation numbers that get people's attention. The University of Michigan's one-year inflation expectations number rises to 4.2% from 4.1%. That's not the right direction that the Fed wants to see things going, and certainly it wouldn't make people happy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Five to ten-year inflation stays the same, 3.2%. Michigan current conditions falls a little bit, 50.4 from 50.7, and expectations fall to 54.6 from 55. Not big changes, but these numbers are pretty low. So it does continue the idea that even if certain people think the economy is A+++, most of the American consumers out there don't seem to think so. The big question with housing has been if rates go down and mortgage rates have gone down some, would that help a lot? It has helped a little bit in that even though the gain was not as much as expected, as Matt noted, the total number of home sales on an annual basis of 4.13 million is up about 300,000 from where we saw it in prior months. So a little bit of good news in housing, but still not going to get you there in terms of fixing the economy. Highest so in nine months, so that's the good part of the existing home sales number. Mike, thank you very much. Michael McKee, our international economics and policy correspondent.

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