Eye On Housing
Pending Sales Skip a Beat
Pending home sales fell 1.1% in June, breaking a three month streak of improvement after a dismal winter. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), decreased 1.1% in June to 102.7 from a downwardly revised May level of 103.8. The June reading was down 7.3% on… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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New Home Sales: Cash Purchases on the Rise
The share of new single-family home sales purchased with cash rose during the second quarter of 2014, reaching 8.4% of sales. The onset of the housing crisis in 2007 led to a decline in the share of new home sales due to conventional mortgage financing and increases in the shares due to mortgages backed by the FHA and the Department of Veteran’s… Read More ›
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Remodelers’ Confidence Recovers in the Second Quarter
NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) rose three points to 56 in the second quarter of 2014; essentially reclaiming the territory it had lost during what was likely a weather-related dip in the fist three months of the year.The RMI is based on a quarterly survey of NAHB remodelers, and is an average of separate indices for remodelers’ ratings of current… Read More ›
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New Home Sales in June – Disappointing But Not A Disaster
The Census Bureau released figures for new home sales in June. Sales of new single family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 406 thousand, down from a downwardly revised pace of 442 thousand in May. The June sales pace was disappointing but not a disaster. The May pace, even after revision, was a surprise on the high… Read More ›
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Eye on the Economy: Housing Starts Pause and Existing Sales Rise
Existing home sales posted a third monthly increase in June, passing a 5 million annualized sales pace for the first time since October of 2013. The recent gains reverse the negative trend that had set in after an increase in mortgage interest rates in the fall followed by an unusually long winter in some parts of the country. However, gains… Read More ›
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Existing Sales Pass 5 Million
Existing home sales continued to increase from the winter quarter and passed the 5 million mark for the first time since October 2013. This increase is positive news for future new home sales because each prospective repeat buyer must sell their existing home before buying a newly built home. Existing home sales increased 2.6% in June, but are still 2.3%… Read More ›
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Gasoline Pushes Consumer Prices Higher in June
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) press release, consumer prices increased in June 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis. Over the past twelve months, prices on expenditures made by urban consumers increased 2.1% before seasonal adjustments. The month-over-month increase in the all items index was driven by a large 3.3% increase in the gasoline index. The… Read More ›
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Green Building Certification
Among single-family builders, the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is the most commonly used green building certification. McGraw Hill Construction’s data and analytics team surveyed a set of NAHB single-family and multifamily members in 2013. From 2011 to 2013, the percentage of single-family firms using the NGBS has grown from 21% to 30%. In contrast, 13% of single-family builders reported use… Read More ›
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Housing Construction Pauses
According to the Census Bureau and HUD, housing starts activity dipped 9.3% in June to an 893,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate. The drop was concentrated in the South region where single-family starts fell 70,000, accounting for more than the total national drop of 57,000. Multifamily starts also fell 88,000 units in the South accounting for more than the 35,000 total… Read More ›
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Inflation at the Producer Level in June – Bloated by Gas
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for June. Inflation in prices received by producers (prior to sales to consumers) rose 0.4% in June from May (a 4.4% annual pace) owing largely to an increase in gasoline prices. Core prices (i.e., excluding the volatile categories of food and energy) increased 0.2%. Over the 12 months… Read More ›