New Home Sales During MARCH 2026

The March, 2026 New Home Sales report was released by the Commerce Department:

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Previous Month (unrevised): 635,000

• Actual New Home Sales: 682,000

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• Change from 1-Month Previous: +47,000 units (+7.40%)
  
  
• Change from 1-Year Previous: +22,000 units (+3.33%)

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Median Price for a New Home
During MARCH, 2026: $387,400

• Change from One-Year Previous: -$25,500 (-6.18%)

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Average Price for a New Home
During MARCH, 2026: $503,100

• Change from One-Year Previous: -$6,100 (-1.2%)

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Inventory: 481,000 (-23,000 units / -4.56% Year-on-Year)

• 8.5 months supply at current sales rate; seasonally‐adjusted estimate.

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CHART: Cost of A Newly Built Home
MARCH 2026 Update

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• CHART: Cost of A Newly Built Home.
  
  
• Click Here for Existing Home Sales Prices and a Chart.
  
  
• Click Here for The Monthly Existing Home Sales Report.

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Compiled jointly by the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the yellow-highlighted figure above is the seasonally adjusted and annualized number of newly-built homes with committed buyers for the indicated month.

The New Home Sales report is watched by economists and investors because it offers insight into the state of the U.S. housing market, and also provides data that can be used to predict sales of large household furniture and appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, etc.

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• Click here to view the full Commerce Department report (PDF)
  
  

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Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for APRIL 2026

Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for this month (April, 2026) was released by The Conference Board®:

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Predicted: 90.0

• Actual: 92.8

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Previous Month (revised): 92.2

• Change from Previous Month: +0.65% (+0.6 point)
  

================

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

From Today's Report:

"...'Consumer confidence edged up in April but was overall little changed, despite material concern about rising gasoline prices as the war in the Middle East prompted a surge in Brent crude oil prices,' said Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board.

'Consumer appraisals of current and expected business conditions declined moderately compared to last month. This was offset by modest improvements in consumers’ perceptions of the labor market, both current and expected, as well as income expectations, which were slightly more optimistic in April.'..."

================

Every month, The Conference Board sends a questionnaire to 5,000 U.S. households. Survey participants are polled about their feelings regarding the U.S. economy, current and future, and about their own fiscal circumstances. On average, 3,500 participants complete and return the 5-question survey.

• The baseline "100" score for the CCI is associated with 1985 survey data.

When consumers feel good about the economy, they tend to do more spending, and vice versa.

Based in New York City, The Conference Board® is a private, not-for-profit organization with a mission to, "create and disseminate knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses strengthen their performance and better serve society."

The CCI is usually released on the last Tuesday of the month.

================  

CHART: Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI)

APRIL 2026 Update

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• Click here to view the full Conference Board report.

========================================= 

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My Uncle Got Sucked Into A "Home Depot" Phishing Scam

So, I am on WhatsApp, checking out some family conversations, when I receive a message from my uncle.  Message reads:

"The Home Depot 40th Anniversary.  Click to enter to participate in the survey.  Have a chance to win $ 8,000! BeneficialYear.TOP"

Right away, red flags go up.  Looks extremely suspicious, but I click the link anyway, because I want to see what the scam looks like, so that I can warn others.

Here's a capture of the URL, and the page it took me to:

www.FedPrimeRate.com: Phishing Scam Image 1

=======

When I reloaded the page, I was taken to a totally different URL:

www.FedPrimeRate.com: Phishing Scam Image 2

First of all, if this is a survey from The Home Depot, then why on Earth would I be redirected to 2 different URLs? And why would one of the domain names use a .CN top level name, meaning it's registered in China?

Moreover: all the navigation links don't work, and the same if you try to "up" or "down" vote in the comments section.

As I investigated further, I found that Firefox is aware, and warning folks:

www.FedPrimeRate.com:
Mozilla FireFox Warning
- Deceptive Site Ahead

=======

Please people: don't forward suspicious messages to friends and family without checking them out.  You could end up doing serious harm to people you care about.

>>>   CLICK HERE FOR MORE SAFETY WARNINGS   <<<

>>>   CLICK HERE for SCAM ALERT: HOW TO AVOID BANKING AND OTHER TRENDING SCAMS; KNOW THE RED FLAGS   <<<

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SCAM ALERT: How to Avoid Banking And Other Trending Scams; Know The Red Flags

From the good folks at Bank of America:

Be Aware Of A Trending Zelle® Payment Scam

Beware of scammers impersonating banks and fraud departments. By spoofing legitimate phone numbers to call or text you, the requests can be very convincing. While Bank of America may send you a text to validate unusual activity, we will never contact you to request that you send money using Zelle® to anyone, including yourself or to share a code to resolve fraud.

Here's What Happens:

• You receive a text that looks like a Bank of America suspicious activity alert.
  
  
• If you respond to the text, you've engaged the scammer and will receive a call from a number that appears to be from a bank.
  
  
• The “representative” or scammer will offer to help stop the alleged fraud by asking you to send money to yourself with Zelle®.
  
  
• Then, they ask you for a one time code you just received from a bank. If you give them that code, they will use it to enroll their bank account with Zelle® using your email or phone number.
  
  
• The scammer now has the ability to receive your money in their account.

Being vigilant is your first line of defense; here's how to help stay protected:

• Don't be pressured to act immediately — this is what scammers want you to do.
  
  
• Don't trust caller ID — it's not always who it says it is.
  
  
• Don't share codes based on a call you receive.

To learn more, watch this educational video layer from Zelle®

===========

Know The Scams That May Follow A Natural Disaster

Watch out for fake contractors. Following a disaster, unlicensed contractors will canvas the impacted areas promising to get clean up or repairs done quickly. They may ask for payment up front and not show up to do the work, or have you sign a contract that redirects insurance payouts to them and not you.

• Do your research; get multiple quotes for comparison, and make sure the contractors are licensed.
  
  
• Use caution if you're pressured to pay up front for the job or sign over the insurance claim. Contractors may try to offer special deals that seem too good to be true.
  

===========

CLICK HERE for much more from this
highly informative Bank of America article.

===========

#SCAMS #SCAMMERS #FRAUD #ZELLE #BofA #SCAMALERT #NEWSCAMALERT #REDFLAGS #SCAMAVOIDANCE #AVOIDSCAMS #FedPrimeRate #PHONESCAMS #EMAILSCAMS #TEXTSCAMS #BANKOFAMERICA #PHISHING #PHISHINGSCAMS #BANKSCAMS #BANKS #BANKINGSCAMS

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Consumer Sentiment: FINAL Results for APRIL 2026

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) - FINAL Results for April, 2026 was released today:

Predicted: 49.0

• Actual: 49.8

=========

• Change from Previous Month: -6.57% (-3.5 points)
  
  

• Change from 12-Months Previous: -4.6% (-2.4 points)

=========

• Final ICS Reading for March 2026: 53.3
  
  
• Final ICS Reading for April 2025: 52.2

=========

From Today's Report:

"...Consumer sentiment ticked down 3.5 index points this month, now comparable to the trough seen in June 2022. Decreases in sentiment were seen across political party, income, age, and education.

Expected business conditions declined for both short and long time horizons, nearly matching year-ago readings when the reciprocal tariff regime was implemented.

After the two-week cease-fire was announced and gas prices softened a touch, sentiment recovered a modest portion of its early-month losses.

The Iran invasion appears to influence consumer views primarily through shocks to gasoline and potentially other prices.

In contrast, military and diplomatic developments that do not lift supply constraints or lower energy prices are unlikely to buoy consumers.

Year-ahead inflation expectations surged from 3.8% in March to 4.7% this month, the largest one-month increase since April 2025. The current reading exceeds those seen in 2024 and remains well above the 2.3-3.0% range seen in the two years pre-pandemic.

After hovering between 3.2 and 3.3% for the previous four months, long-run inflation expectations climbed to 3.5% in April, the highest reading since October 2025. In 2024, values ranged between 2.8% and 3.2%, while in 2019 and 2020, they were consistently below 2.8%..."

=========

CHART: Buy-in-Advance Motives Tick Up After Start of
Iran Invasion But Remain Historically Modest So Far
 =========

The ICS is derived from the following five survey questions:

1. "We are interested in how people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you (and your family living there) are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?"
   
   
2. "Now looking ahead, do you think that a year from now you (and your family living there) will be better off financially, or worse off, or just about the same as now?"
   
   
3. "Now turning to business conditions in the country as a whole, do you think that during the next twelve months we'll have good times financially, or bad times, or what?"
   
   
4. "Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely: that in the country as a whole we'll have continuous good times during the next five years or so, or that we will have periods of widespread unemployment or depression, or what?"
   
   
5. "About the big things people buy for their homes, such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think now is a good or bad time for people to buy major household items?"
   

=========

• Click here for more on how the ICS is calculated.

=========

The ICS uses a 1966 baseline, i.e. for 1966, the ICS = 100. So any number that is below the 1966 baseline of 100 means that the folks who were polled recently aren't as optimistic about the U.S. economy as those polled back in 1966.

The ICS is similar to the Consumer Confidence Index in that they both measure consumer attitudes and offer valuable insight into consumer spending.

=========

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

=========

• Click here to view the full University of Michigan report.

=========

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NEW PHISHING SCAM: Facebook Has Temporarily Suspended Your Account (ACCEPT / IGNORE Button)

So this is a new Facebook (FB) phishing scam....For me anyway.

Was taking care of some business on FB, when this nasty message popped up in my face (👈 image.)

It says, "Facebook has temporarily suspended your account," and it shows you two (2) buttons: [ACCEPT] and a flashing red [IGNORE.]👆

OK, so if are on FB and you see this popup message, DO NOT CLICK THAT FLASHING IGNORE BUTTON!

This is a common trick the scammer use: A fake button that makes you think that if you click it you will get rid of the popup.

But, of course, the opposite is true.

Instead of clicking the [ACCEPT] or [IGNORE] buttons, close the window.

At this point the attack may have locked up your computer so that you can't close the message.

🚨 THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO 🚨

If that's the case, then shutdown your computer, and unplug it.  Unplug it even if it's a laptop.

Then wait at least 10 minutes before starting it up again.

Once you have rebooted, use your preferred virus scanner to scan your system, after you've check for the latest threat updates via the Internet.

I use Microsoft's built-in Defender Antivirus on my Windows 11 computers, and I check for the latest updates on a very regular basis (sometime multiple checks per day.) 

OK, so if you accidentally click on that malicious [IGNORE] button, another popup will smack you in the face, and this time it will fill up your entire screen!

   💣> Do NOT Click ANYTHING in that WINDOW! <💣

EVERYTHING in that page is MALICIOUS and can do some very serious harm to your computer, or your finances, or your private data, etc.

So, again, if you can't close that window, scroll back 👆 up this page 👆 and follow the steps under the heading "THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO" and you should be OK. 💫

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Latest Norton Antivirus Protection Renewal Scam In My Inbox

Email Scam Alert

OK, so here's another stupid and very lame attempt to scam the world, received in my main Gmail account today:

===============

Subject Line: Invoice Id : NJ7834H78EH39

Email Body: Dear ******* ,

Invoice Id : NJ7834H78EH39

Thank you  for connected with our norton anti-virus protection. This email is to notify you that your membership for your computer security & protection has been renewed

User Id : ********@gmail.com

Congratulations, you have successfully renewed your Norton Anti-Virus Protection membership.

You have been charged the payment of  $107.93 for 01 year Norton Anti-Virus Protection service from your bank account, via Debit/credit card.  If you didn’t authorize the charges or if you want to continue this service.

Kindly reach us immediately at      

1     8   0   6     4   5   4     5   7   3   7

Product                                       Unit Price                             Qty.                                            Total Amt.
Norton Anti-Virus Protection         $107.93                              

This Deduction will be reflected in 2-3 business days in your bank statement.

Note- This is a system generated mail.  Please do not reply to this mail ID. (1)  Call our 24-hr customer care.

Thank You

===============

How lame is this scam attempt?

1)  Well, the email address of the sender is: <alinasmith6254@gmail.com>

Hmmmm.....Not sent from Norton, me thinks: DERP!

2) You see how the phone number is spaced out?  That's a giveaway too.  The scammer has formatted it like this in the hope that it will trick the email spam filter.  If the scam email goes to the spam folder, it's done.

For this particular scam email, it worked!  Gmail didn't send it directly to my spam folder.  I found it in my inbox.

3) I don't use Norton Antivirus.  I used to, a long time ago, with Windows XP, but I gave up on it as it consumed too much cpu time -- my computers got a lot slower -- and it was too expensive.  I find that Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender antivirus / anti-malware / anti-spyware works great.  Of course, because I'm a total Nazi about these things, I run Windows Update every time I rest and massage my hands (to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome), which is about every 10-15 minutes.

I also run a Windows Defender Offline Scan often, because most experienced malicious coder / hacker deviants know how to hide their BS in places that are hard to clean.

 

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