Contract closings eased 1.3% from the prior month to a 5.46 million annual rate, according to National Association of Realtors data released Friday that slightly exceeded the median estimate in Bloomberg’s survey. The median sales price climbed 6.8% from a year earlier to $266,300 as inventories remained slim.

The better-than-expected sales pace underscores how a robust jobs market, rising wages and low mortgage rates are bolstering housing demand. The report and other recent data, such as a surge in single-family housing permits, suggest that the outlook for the sector remains bright.

While the data showed a slight slowdown in sales, the rate remains near December’s level, which was the best in almost two years. Those levels underscore how the housing market has stabilized after emerging last year from a long slump.

While new-home construction has rebounded, scarce inventory continues to limit sales. At the current pace, it would take 3.1 months to sell all the homes on the market, compared with 3 months in December, the lowest in more than two decades of data. Realtors see anything below five months of supply as a sign of a tight market.

“If you look at December and January together, the housing market is doing quite well in terms of sales, but still being constrained by an inventory shortage pushing up prices too fast,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said at a briefing in Washington.

Regional readings were mixed. Sales in the West fell 9.4% from the prior month amid affordability challenges. The Midwest and South saw modest gains while the Northeast was unchanged.

First-time buyers made up 32% of sales, up slightly from 31% the previous month.

Existing-home sales account for about 90% of U.S. housing and are calculated when a contract closes. New-home sales, which make up the remainder, are counted when contracts are signed and will be released Wednesday.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations will meet on Saturday and Sunday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh for the first time since the virus forced much of China to be quarantined and then began to spread.

The consensus of economists remains for a short-term hit to demand in China and then globally, followed by a rebound. The International Monetary Fund reiterated this week that the worldwide expansion is set to “moderately strengthen” this year after being hurt in 2019 by the U.S.-China trade war.

That could prove too optimistic a view given Chinese factories are still operating around half their capacity and many workers remain housebound. The partial shutdown of the world’s second biggest economy is having an effect elsewhere by weakening trade, fraying manufacturing supply chains, reducing tourism and fanning investor uncertainty.

“We’re watching the impact with grave concern and keeping a close eye on downside risks,” Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told lawmakers in Tokyo before heading to Saudi Arabia.

Other topics set to be discussed by the G-20 include the use of digital currencies, the imposition of taxes on technology companies and money laundering. A statement will be released by the hosts on Sunday.

But the virus will dominate the debate. Already on course for its worst expansion in three decades, some analysts now reckon the Chinese economy will contract this quarter from the previous three months. France, Italy and Japan already did so at the end of last year.

Fresh data on Friday underscored the reason for concern at the G-20 meeting as U.S. business activity shrank for the first time since 2013, while manufacturing gauges in Australia and Japan weakened and early export orders for South Korea showed a slump in Chinese demand. China reported car sales sank 92% in the first half of February. The euro area went against the trend though, with activity accelerating at the fastest pace in six months in February.

Economists at Standard Chartered said in a report on Friday that the virus could end up affecting 42% of China’s economy as they also cut their forecast for global growth this year to 3% from 3.2%. Even worse would be an international pandemic, defined as a disease spreading across multiple continents. Oxford Economics Ltd. calculates such an event could slash world output by more than $1 trillion.

“If growth continues to slide, a key question for the G-20 will be whether its members can coordinate a response,” said Tom Orlik, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics in Washington. “Against a backdrop of resurgent nationalism, fractious trade disputes, and limited policy space, common purpose might be difficult to achieve.”

Some G-20 policymakers are already responding. China has led the way by cutting market interest rates, and could take the bolder step of reducing reserve requirements.

Central banks in Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa have also cut rates this year. Governments in more than half of the G-20 economies are easing budgets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in this week calling for an “emergency prescription.”

Others are adopting a wait-and-see stance. While Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials are on the alert to the risks posed by the virus, they have so far not signaled any intention to loosen monetary policy.

A dilemma for policy makers is that although IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has suggested there may be a need for “synchronized, or even better, coordinated measures,” central banks and governments lack ammunition given the low level of interest rates and high level of budget deficits.

One reason for confidence is that stock investors still seem to be betting on a V-shaped recovery. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up 4% this year and 22% from a year ago, and the broader MSCI World Index has also climbed over the same timeframes.

Such gains, however, are a concern to economists at Citigroup Inc. In the advanced economies alone, they say easy financial conditions point to growth of 2.6% this year, twice the pace they predict.

“Financial markets could be overconfident in expecting an economic recovery,” said Pernille Henneberg, an economist at Citigroup. “The global economy and financial markets have not seen the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak yet.”

The guidelines aim to promote community areas, petrol stations, shopping malls, office buildings and inter-city main roads.

The preferred distance between stations is between 50 and 70 kilometres, to prevent their concentration in the cities.

The committee also approved a series of long-term strategies covering 2018-2037 – a draft first revision of the Power Development Plan, a draft Alternative Energy Development Plan, a draft Energy Conservation Plan and the Gas Management Plan.

The revised Power Development Plan maintains total power capacity at 77,211 megawatts but reduces the target for electricity generated among some types of renewable energy plants and fossil-based-fuel plants.

Some 35,650 businesses operating in Chonburi gained Bt110.46 billion in net profits from Bt2.32 trillion revenue; 8,962 businesses in Rayong had Bt245.7 billion net profit from Bt2.12 trillion revenue, and 4,068 enterprises in Chachoengsao earned Bt35.51 billion net profit from Bt587.91 billion revenue.

About 95.36 per cent of the businesses that presented their balance sheets are small businesses, 2.7 per cent are medium-sized and 1.94 per cent are large businesses.

The EEC is proceeding with investments in infrastructure, including the U-Tapao airport, together with high-speed trains linked to the airport and four more projects are being considered.

Investments in 12 targeted industries including the digital service industry now had a total value of Bt404.98 billion. A smart city project will soon be launched after the blueprint was made on December 9, 2019.

Domestic and foreign institutions alike have slowed recruitment, according to headhunters in the financial hubs. They’ve been impacted by quarantines, restrictions on travel to and from China, remote working arrangements and decisions not to conduct face-to-face interviews.

It’s another aspect of the fallout from the virus, which has also caused factory closures, disrupted supply chains and initiated the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. Recruiting has become less of a priority as firms including DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have highlighted the revenue impact of worsening business conditions.

“Everybody is distracted,” said Gurj Sandhu, a managing director at Morgan McKinley Group Ltd. in Singapore. Hiring is falling down the “pecking order,” he said, while adding that nobody is canceling roles yet.

Bloomberg spoke with six recruitment firms, all of which confirmed the slowdown. Hiring processes and relocation plans are taking longer at most companies because of logistical difficulties.

“Companies are not risking international travel, they are not risking client meetings unless it is critical,” said Bethan Howell, a Hong Kong-based consultant at Selby Jennings Ltd.

While some financial firms are conducting interviews by video conference or phone, closing the deal is more problematic, especially at investment banks and wealth-management units.

Bankers are “big-ticket items,” said Hubert Tam, a managing partner at Sirius Partners Ltd. in Hong Kong. Private banks and investment banks are holding off on hiring until they can meet candidates in person, “even if they performed well last year,” he said.

What’s more, many private bankers covering China would have to travel to the country to meet clients and “get their blessings” before they move banks, according to Amod Jain, a Morgan McKinley consultant in Singapore. “Not everything can be done by phone.”

Selby Jennings’ Howell gave the example of a person scheduled to relocate to Hong Kong from Shanghai for a quant fund. The person may have to work from the client’s Shenzhen office while waiting for a visa, which is taking more time these days, she said.

Some recruiters pointed to early signs companies are reconsidering their initial hiring plans for 2020 as the outbreak deals a deeper blow to their operations.

A few banks and asset managers are reviewing their hiring budgets for 2020, said Tam from Sirius Partners. Working from home has led to a decline in trading, impacting profits, he said.

Some lenders are considering whether to hold off on adding headcount for non-essential roles such as back-office functions, according to Mark Li, head of client solutions at Randstad Singapore.

The financial services industry in Asia’s biggest hubs was facing economic headwinds even before the coronavirus outbreak because of U.S.-China trade tension, which was affecting recruiting at some firms, Li said. Hong Kong also had to grapple with its months-long protests.

The slowdown in hiring is also starting to weigh on recruitment firms as they factor in delays of multiple weeks for placing candidates. “Financially, we have been impacted because we can’t close enough deals that make the revenues,” Morgan McKinley’s Sandhu said.

However, recruiters expressed optimism that new viral infections are slowing, with some lauding the Singapore government for its efforts to contain the outbreak.

“It’s still relatively early to see any hiring freeze,” said Nilay Khandelwal, managing director at Michael Page International Pte. in Singapore. “The real extent of impact will be seen in the days to come when new headcount and hiring plans for this year might get revised.”

Microsoft, Apple and other big tech names led losses after Japan reported two deaths and South Korea confirmed its first fatality from the disease amid a report that the illness was spreading in Beijing. ViacomCBS tumbled after sales missed estimates, while Morgan Stanley dropped after agreeing to buy E-Trade Financial for $13 billion. The S&P 500 Index pared the worst of its decline in the afternoon amid gains for automakers and real-estate companies.

The yen extended its fall toward 112 per dollar amid disappointing economic news and early positioning before the fiscal year’s end next month. Treasuries rallied.

Sentiment turned negative Thursday, a day after equities reached record highs, as the infection that originated in China continues to expand beyond the mainland. Earnings misses are adding to the gloom, alongside fresh warnings on the pathogen’s impact from A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping firm, and Air France-KLM. Goldman Sachs Group’s chief equity strategist said a near-term correction for the stock market is looking more probable.

“It could be some larger players hedging against downside risk of the coronavirus spreading,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance. “That, on top of the Goldman call that a correction is more likely, has people on edge.”

Elsewhere, subpar results from AXA and Telefonica weighed on European equity gauges. Asia stocks traded mixed. Oil gained in New York.

– – –

Here are some key events coming up:

– Earnings season rolls on, with results from Deere & Co. set for Friday.

– Euro-area PMI and inflation data are also due Friday.

– Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs are due to meet Saturday and Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and are expected to discuss efforts to support growth amid the coronavirus threat.

– – –

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

– The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4% at the close of trading in New York.

– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.9%.

– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 0.7%.

Currencies

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.5%.

– The euro slipped 0.2%, to $1.0787.

– The Japanese yen weakened 0.6%, to 112.08 per dollar.

Bonds

– The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank five basis points, to 1.52%.

– Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points, to -0.45%.

– Britain’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points, to 0.57%.

Commodities

– West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.9%, to $53.78 a barrel.

– Gold strengthened 0.5%, to $1,619.80 an ounce.

Jobless claims rose 4,000 to 210,000 in the week ended Feb. 15, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday that matched estimates in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 209,000, the lowest since April.

While unemployment claims ticked up as forecast, the level is hovering near the lowest in 50 years as the strong labor market underpins consumption. Employers continue to retain workers and struggle to hire.

Federal Reserve policy makers are keen to keep the economic expansion and labor market rolling, signaling that they will keep interest rates on hold. Minutes from the last meeting highlighted the healthy job market amid domestic and global risks.

Continuing claims, reported with a one-week lag, rose by 25,000 to 1.726 million in the week ended Feb. 8, while the four-week average decreased to the lowest since December.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.2%.

A spike in confirmed infections in South Korea and two more deaths in Japan jolted markets on Thursday, sending the won and Singapore dollar down as much as 1%. Asian shares slid to a two-week low, and some money managers said they’re bracing for further losses.

“The transmission rate outside of China is increasing and to us that is concerning,” said Ross Cameron, the head of the Japan office at Northcape Capital Ltd. “The transmission rate in Japan and South Korea has picked up. The transmission rate in Singapore also suggests that the virus spread may continue even when it’s summer.”

While China reported a sharp decline in new infections, the country’s shifting reporting guidelines have raised doubts about the reliability of data from the center of the outbreak. South Korea reported its first death from the virus Thursday while cases surged to 104, and infections in Japan shot up in the past week. In Singapore, more than 80 people have contracted the virus.

Cameron questioned why the market reaction to the virus spreading has been so muted.

“Our sense is the way the market is trading, it’s probably too bullish,” he said in a phone interview from Tokyo. “We are definitely not out of the woods. We think people were too optimistic early on.”

Hugh Young, the veteran money manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said he’s watching the virus situation in Singapore for a reliable read on its spread.

“If anyone can handle it and can contain it and is honest about it, I would say that is probably Singapore,” Young said in an interview. “So if we see how Singapore develops, that might – maybe not – that might be a lead indicator.”

But even though new cases in Singapore have been slowing, he’s reluctant to interpret the data too quickly.

“Maybe it goes on more, becomes more widespread outside the immediate region,” he said. “As far as an indication that it’s coming to an end, I think just wait and see, I’m afraid. We’re just watching and seeing along with everyone else.”

For Young, one reason markets have been resilient is support from China. But he also points to another factor. The experience of SARS in 2003, and how its impact didn’t last long in markets, is probably making people believe the same thing will happen this time, he said.

“The trouble is we’re all looking at SARS and saying, well, it was short-lived,” he said. “And then maybe the issue is we’re all rather expecting it to be a repeat experience.”

– – –

Not everyone is so cautious about the situation. Nader Naeimi, the head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. in Sydney, says the worst of the outbreak in China is past, and he’s putting his fund’s money behind that assumption.

Naeimi has been tracking the rate of change of new cases in the country every day and also the rate of deaths. What he’s seeing, along with China’s determination to prop up the economy in response to the crisis, gave him the confidence to pile back into risk assets just weeks after he sold them off.

“We have started to see a peak in progression,” Naeimi said in a phone interview from Sydney earlier this week. “We started to short fear, which means we are short gold, long copper,” he said. We’ve “gone full-on back to risk-on in commodities, in global industrials, basically all areas of markets where there is exposure to economic growth.”

But for Northcape’s Cameron, the most important data points for investors are now outside the mainland.

“The key one we are looking at is the transmission rate outside of China,” he said. “The key question is whether this is a regional epidemic or will it become a global pandemic.”

It takes Google Maps to get a glimpse of what lies behind. Satellite images of Atherton, California – where the average household income just blew past half a million dollars – reveal the sprawling homes of tech billionaires and sports stars, studded with tennis courts and pools.

For the fourth straight year, Atherton topped Bloomberg’s Richest Places annual index. With an average household income of more than $525,000, it became the first and so far only community to top the half-million dollar mark since Bloomberg started compiling the index in 2017.

At least some of the town’s Silicon Valley neighbors are more or less keeping up. Atherton is joined in the upper echelons of the Bloomberg list by Hillsborough (No. 3) and Los Altos Hills (No. 5), two more communities in the Hi-Tech corridor between San Francisco and San Jose. Both have average incomes upward of $400,000.

– – –

Elaine White, a real estate agent and native of neighboring Redwood City, has watched the tech boom shape the region.

“Because of how big Facebook has gotten, and Google, we’ve kind of become this concept of the company town, where so many people work for these Silicon Valley companies,” she said.

In Atherton, the cheapest house on the market is listed for $2.5 million, according to real estate marketplace Zillow.com. Numerous tech billionaires have called the town home, including Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft’s late co-founder Paul Allen, whose former residence there was sold last week for more than $35 million. Golden State Warriors athlete Stephen Curry bought an Atherton estate last year for $31 million.

– – –

In second place for the second straight year is Scarsdale, New York, less than 25 miles outside Manhattan, with an average $452,000 in annual household income. Also making the top 10 are a town near Denver, two northern suburbs of Chicago, and a wealthy enclave in Dallas, Texas.

In general, the East and West Coasts dominate the top-100 list. California takes up 23 places, while the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey accounts for 32 (although that’s down from 36 last year). Middle America is slowly gaining some ground. States including Illinois and Minnesota added one new listing in this year’s index, while Texas gained two (Lucas at No. 73, and Alamo Heights at No. 75).

Altogether, 16 states are represented on the list, the same number as in previous years – suggesting that the concentration of wealth in certain regions remains largely unchanged over time. Also, the richest communities continue to get richer. This year, to make the top 100, a neighborhood needed an average household income of $220,000 – up from $209,000 last year.

– – –

Methodology: Bloomberg evaluated inflation-adjusted household data for all U.S. locations with a minimum of 2,000 households (as defined by the Census), and ranked them based on average household income. Almost 6,300 communities met the criteria, which includes approximately 75% of total households in the U.S.

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average ticked up to 3.49% with an average 0.7 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1% of the loan amount and are in addition to the interest rate.) It was 3.47 a week ago and 4.35% a year ago. The 30-year fixed-rate average has remained below 3.5% for three weeks in a row.

The 15-year fixed-rate average was slightly higher at 2.99% with an average 0.8 point. It was 2.97% a week ago and 3.78% a year ago. The five-year adjustable rate average slipped to 3.25% with an average 0.2 point. It was 3.28% a week ago and 3.84% a year ago.

Recent favorable economic data has done little to move rates. The consumer price index and producer price index were better than expectations. Although housing starts fell, building permits were near a 13-year high.

“January’s decrease in single-family home construction came on the heels of a strong December that was helped by warmer weather,” said Bill Banfield, executive vice president of capital markets at Quicken Loans. “With two strong months, it is clear warmer weather has helped the housing market earn some extra credit points. This could help generate positive momentum heading into the spring home-buying season.”

Such good economic news normally would send mortgage rates higher, but investors remain concerned about the affect the coronavirus outbreak will have on the economy.

“The coronavirus and its impact have yet to be felt to its fullest extent – although Apple warned that it will have an impact on its numbers,” said Jim Sahnger, mortgage planner with C2 Financial in Jupiter, Florida. “Until we see how that plays out, rates should remain stable. Absent the virus right now, rates would be climbing.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury drifted up to 1.56% Wednesday but has clung to a narrow range most of the month.

“It appears the equity markets and bond markets have differing opinions regarding the containment of the coronavirus and its potential for slowing the global economy,” said Michael Becker, a branch manager with Sierra Pacific Mortgage in Lutherville, Maryland. “Equity markets have rallied with the S&P up 5% from its dip in January, while bond markets have seen Treasury yields hold near their multiyear lows.”

Because mortgage rates tend to mimic the movement of long-term bonds, the 10-year yield is the most closely watched indicator of where rates are headed. Bankrate.com, which puts out a weekly mortgage rate trend index, found nearly two-thirds of the experts it surveyed predict rates will remain relatively unchanged in the coming week.

“Looking forward, I think it’s clear that bond markets are going to take a more wait-and-see attitude when it comes to the economic dangers of the coronavirus outbreak,” Becker said. “Because of that, I think mortgage rates will hold steady in the coming week.”

Meanwhile, mortgage applications retreated as rates moved higher. According to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, the market composite index – a measure of total loan application volume – decreased 6.4% last week. The refinance index went down 8%, while the purchase index slid 3%.

The refinance share of mortgage activity accounted for 63.2% of applications.

“A gradual uptick in mortgage rates led to a pullback in mortgage applications last week, but the annual increases for both refinances and purchase activity remain robust at 165% and 10%, respectively,” said Bob Broeksmit, MBA president and CEO. “With the spring home-buying season around the corner, housing supply in many parts of the country is struggling to keep up with demand. Fortunately, residential construction has picked up in recent months and should help increase the available options for prospective buyers.”