Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Homeowners’ Equity Continues to Improve
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published the Financial Accounts of the United States for the second quarter of 2017. The balance sheet of U.S. households with real estate continues to improve as the increases in home prices continue. Households’ owner-occupied real estate increased to $23.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2017, $1,597 billion more than… Read More ›
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New Single-Family Housing Starts by Divisions in 2016 – Long Road Back to Normal
NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that, nationally, there were 779,082 new single-family units started in 2016, 10% higher than 2015. According to the NAHB tabulation of data from the 2016 Survey of Construction, new single-family housing starts were divided into the nine Census divisions, including Pacific, Mountain, West North Central, West South Central, East North Central,… Read More ›
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156,000 Jobs Added in August, 13,000 in Residential Construction
According to the Employment Situation for August 2017 reported by the BLS, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 156,000 in August, less than 189,000 gains in July. Employment growth has averaged 176,000 per month so far this year, compared with the average monthly growth of 187,000 in 2016. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.4% in August, from… Read More ›
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Home Prices Grow in June
The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 4.4% in June, faster than the 3.2% in April and the 3.7% in May. Home prices in nominal terms reached a new high and were 3% higher than the pre-recession peak. House price appreciation continued and averaged 4.5%… Read More ›
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Solid Job Gains in July
At the start of the third quarter, employment gains and the unemployment rate ticked down. According to the Employment Situation for July 2017 reported by the BLS, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209,000 in July, after an upwardly revised 231,000 gains in June. Employment growth averaged 184,000 so far this year, close to the average monthly growth in 2016…. Read More ›
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Home Prices in May – Another Slow Growth Month
In May national home prices rose slowly, while the pace of gains varied by market. The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 2.6% in May, the slowest rate of growth in the past 11 months. After reaching 8.7% in November 2016, house price appreciation has… Read More ›
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U.S. Total Payroll Employment Gains Accelerated in June
June’s employment gains accelerated while the unemployment rate ticked up. Moreover, employment in residential construction kept increasing with the lower unemployment rate. According to the Employment Situation for June 2017 reported by the BLS, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 222,000 in June, faster than the 152,000 gains in May. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, from a 16-year low… Read More ›
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Consumer Confidence in June – Optimistic but Cautious Consumers
The Consumer Confidence Index, released by the Conference Board, rose in June. Consumers were quite optimistic about current conditions, but less optimistic about the near term outlook than in May. The Consumer Confidence Index increased to 118.9 in June, from 117.6 in May. The present situation index rose from 140.6 to 146.3 while the expectations index decreased from 102.3 to… Read More ›
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Home Prices in April – Slowing Growth
The S&P/Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released their respective home price indices for April. National home prices increased at a more moderate annual growth rate, while local home price gains varied. The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 2.0% in April, down… Read More ›
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CPI Slipped in May
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), slipped in May due to a decline in energy prices. The CPI declined at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.5% in May, following a 2.0% increase in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, “core” CPI increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.8%,… Read More ›