Why the US housing market is encouraging for economic growth

Positive headlines from the US have been rare this year - from social issues and divisive politics to economic underperformance.

But one bright spot has been the performance of larger companies. In the year to the end of September, the S&P 500 rose some 5.9%. Over five years this index has grown by 73.7%. There are three reasons to continue being optimistic about the asset class. The first is consumer balance sheets. On a number of metrics, the US consumer is in a better place than at any time in the last decade. They have been able to refinance at record low interest rates and wages are growing - the latest data says that over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.4%. These are the individuals t...