Author Archives

• Consumer Prices in April – Energy Declines Again, But Overall Prices Remain Positive

  By Jing Fu on May 22, 2015 • (0)

  

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported consumer prices increased in April. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.2%. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.1%. Large swings in energy prices account for most of the divergence between CPI and the… Read More ›

  Tags: cpi, economics, energy, eye on the economy, macroeconomics, multifamily

• Consumer Confidence and Economic Cycles

  By Jing Fu on May 1, 2015 • (0)

  

  Consumer sentiment and consumer confidence are two indexes showing consumers’ perceptions of current business, income and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for the near future’s economy.   Figure 1 shows both the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index are highly inversely correlated with the unemployment rate. High unemployment drives down… Read More ›

  Tags: consumer confidence, consumer sentiment index, consumers, economics, employment, eye on the economy, housing, Housing Recovery, labor market, recession, sales, the conference board, upemployment rate

• House Price Appreciation Moderates

  By Jing Fu on April 30, 2015 • (0)

  

  The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released the House Price Index (HPI) data for February, 2015. Figure 1 shows the House Price Index (HPI) data from January 1991 to February 2015. The annual growth rate is also presented in Figure 1. House price appreciation has been volatile but averaged approximately 5% from 1991 to 2003 prior to the housing… Read More ›

  Tags: economics, FHFA, home building, home prices, house prices, housing, Housing Recovery, prices