Eye On Housing
Effective Rate on New Home Loans Continues to Drop
Interest rates on conventional mortgages for newly built homes fell again in August 2016 according to data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFHA), extending the decline to 7 consecutive months. The FHFA data show that the average contract rate on the loans fell from 3.64% to 3.60%, while initial fees and charges went from 1.11% to 1.09%. As… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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August Personal Consumption Softens while Income Rises
Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) was effectively unchanged in August, standing at $11.5 billion, according to the most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Meanwhile, personal income rose by 0.2%, almost half of the gain in July. The gain in personal income was the weakest since a drop in February, as wages, the largest component, only increased 0.1% after… Read More ›
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A Third Look at GDP Growth in the Second Quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2016. Real GDP grew at a 1.4% seasonally adjusted annual rate, up modestly from the 1.1% previous estimate. Personal consumption expenditures were slightly weaker, investment was less negative based on less drag from the energy sector and equipment spending, government spending… Read More ›
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Housing Share of GDP: Housing Services Offsets Slight RFI Decline
With the release of the final estimates of second quarter 2016 GDP growth (revised up three-tenths to a 1.4% growth rate), housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) held steady at 15.7%. The home building and remodeling component—residential fixed investment—as a share of GDP declined slightly to 3.5%. Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways. The first is… Read More ›
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Pending Sales Decline
The Pending Home Sales Index decreased 2.4% in August, declining for the third time in four months, and falling 0.2% below its level for the same month a year ago. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), decreased to 108.5 in August from a downwardly revised… Read More ›
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Consumer Confidence in September – Another Optimistic Month
The Consumer Confidence Index, reported by the Conference Board, rose in September. Compared with last month, consumers were more optimistic about both the current situation and the near term outlook. The Consumer Confidence Index rose to 104.1, from 101.8 in August. The present situation index rose to 128.5, from 125.3, and the expectations index increased to 87.8, from 86.1. Consumers’… Read More ›
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National Home Prices Reaccelerated, Local Home Prices Varied in July
S&P Dow Jones Indices released the Case-Shiller (CS) National Home Price Index for July. The index rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 5.0%, faster than the 2.1% in June. House prices have decelerated since the beginning of 2016 due to the sharp decline in existing home sales at the end of 2015. But, home prices started to… Read More ›
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New Home Sales: Solid August Follows Hot July
Sales of newly-built, single-family homes fell 7.6% on a monthly basis in August to a 609,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. However, the monthly change masks the fact that the August pace of new home sales was the second strongest since the end of the Great Recession. New home sales for August… Read More ›
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Asking Prices of Apartments and Condominiums in the First Quarter of 2016
The US Census Bureau, along with the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), fund and publish the Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA). The SOMA contains data on recently completed apartments and condominiums, including the asking rent and sale prices of these units. The median asking price of privately financed, unfurnished, nonsubsidized… Read More ›
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Existing Home Sales Fell in August
Existing home sales, reported by the National Association of Realtors, soften further in August. Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million units from a downwardly revised 5.38 million units in July. Existing single family sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual… Read More ›