In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 9th, 2024... why we might see more homes on the market this spring, what builders are planning for this year, and where local stores are experiencing a big comeback.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress about the state of the economy and said that it’s “growing at a healthy, sustainable, solid, strong pace.” He also said that policymakers were paying attention to the risks of inflation and that more evidence is needed to reduce the interest rate from its current range of 5.25 to 5.5%. But he also said that he thought that was the peak and that rate cuts were likely at some point this year. He and the other committee members want to “see a little bit more data” showing that inflation is truly coming down before they make a move on rates...   ...That’s it for today. You find links to all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also learn more about how to invest in rental real estate by joining RealWealth. It’s free to join and free to access all of our resources.   And please remember to subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss out on any important real estate news.   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-futures-mixed-ahead-second-day-of-powell-testimony/card/powell-says-u-s-economy-growing-at-a-healthy-sustainable-solid-strong-pace--huEDPE2fGyhaMcbJBqMN   2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/06/powell-reinforces-position-that-the-fed-is-not-ready-to-start-cutting-interest-rates.html   3 - https://therealdeal.com/national/2024/03/08/fed-chair-jerome-powell-warns-more-bank-failures-tied-to-cre/   4 -  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-stay-at-217-000-in-early-march-layoffs-still-low-18322101?mod=search_headline   5 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/08/jobs-report-february-2024-us-job-growth-totaled-275000.html   6 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms   7 - https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/home-selling-sentiment-moves-higher-ahead-spring-homebuying-season   8 - https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/new-home-construction-is-expected-to-grow-in-2024   9 - https://therealdeal.com/national/phoenix/2024/03/01/retail-vacancy-in-phoenix-hits-40-year-low-of-less-than-5/