U.S. retail sales increased by a smallish 0.2 percent in August compared with July. This week, the Fed will very likely announce whether it’s planning to do a tapering of QE3. And Richmond, Calif., has approved a plan to use its powers of eminent domain to acquire underwater mortgages within the town at deep discounts to the properties’ market valuations.

The housing inventory recovery is broad and growing, and price increases are becoming more widespread. The U.S. budget deficit continued to contract in August. And for the week ending Sept. 7, initial unemployment claims were down 31,000 from the previous month, an unusually low figure.

Mortgage refinance activity is at its lowest level since 2009, including mortgage applications. However, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 4.8 percent from 4.73 percent week over week.
As of the summer of 2013, the Vegas market has been making a recovery, with fewer foreclosures and short sales in the state.
And according to a recent study, the income gap between the 1 percent of households and the rest of the population is the largest it’s been since the 1920s.

Under-equitied mortgages accounted for 21.1 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the second quarter of 2013. The number of job openings dropped from 3.9 million in June to 3.7 million in July, the lowest level in about six months. And job creation plans leapt to a level not seen since before the recession and sales expectations improved, but this optimism was tempered by significant drops in sales and profit trends.

Consumer credit went up again, increasing at an annualized rate of 4.5 percent in July. And despite recent economic bumps, the world’s ultra wealthy population – those with total net assets of U.S.$30 million and above – has reached an all-time high of 199,235 individuals.

The less-than-inspiring jobs numbers on Friday did manage to inspire speculation about the winding down of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program, but the Federal Open Market Committee won’t be meeting until later in the month.

The economy created 169,000 jobs in August, lower than the average increase for the last 12 months, which was 184,000. Asking home prices rose 11 percent nationally year over year in August, and 1.2 percent compared with July. And the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index was at 58.6 percent in August, up from 56 percent in July.

According to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, the economy is still plodding along. And Autodata Corp. reported strong sales for carmakers in August, a 17 percent improvement compared with the same month last year.

Construction spending saw an uptick of 0.6 percent in July compared with June. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.4 percent in July 2013 compared with a year ago. And the manufacturing sector expanded in August for the third consecutive month.

Personal income edged up in July by 0.1 percent. The single-family serious delinquency rate for mortgages that it owns or insures declined in July to 2.7 percent from 2.77 percent in June. And the final Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for August came in at 82.1, down from the final July reading.