Eye On Housing
***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis. With the national unemployment rate at low levels, the labor force participation rate becomes an ever more important gauge of labor market conditions. If the size of the U.S. workforce does not grow, then the number of open but unfilled jobs will continue to increase and hinder the… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘eye on the economy’
Eye on the Economy: Starts and Sales Improved in February
***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis. As existing home sales weakened due to limited inventory, home building-related activity improved in February, albeit modestly. Builder sentiment, as measured by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index stands at a level of 58 as of March, consistent with a generally positive outlook tempered by concerns regarding… Read More ›
Eye on the Economy: AD&C Loan Expansion Points to Building Growth
***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis. The rebound of home building has been slowed, in part, by the tight availability of acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans. However, easing credit conditions and a growing loan base should help expand the residential building market. According to NAHB analysis of FDIC data, the volume of… Read More ›
Eye on the Economy: Starts and Sales Stumble
Home building data for January showed declines for new home sales and housing construction. Builder confidence also declined but remains in positive territory. NAHB’s forecast is for continued, modest growth for single-family construction and a slowing of the growth rate for multifamily development in 2016. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index measure of single-family builder sentiment declined three points in… Read More ›
Eye on the Economy: Focus on Labor Markets
NAHB surveys of the residential construction industry reveal that the cost and availability of workers will be the top business challenge of 2016, as it was last year. And new labor market data are consistent with these results. According to the NAHB survey, 76% of builders expect labor cost and availability to be a problem in 2016. This concern over labor… Read More ›
Decline in Energy Prices in December
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.3% in December, after rising in the previous two months, 2.4% in October and 0.3% in November. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI rose at a seasonally adjusted annual… Read More ›
Eye on the Economy: Existing Home Sales Weak Despite Good Job Numbers
***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis. Sales of existing homes weakened at the end of 2015, despite ongoing good news for job creation. According to estimates from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the seasonally adjusted volume of home resales declined 10.5% from October to November and were 3.8% lower than a year prior…. Read More ›
Home Prices in October — Moving Toward the Trend Line
The Case-Shiller (CS) National Home Price Index, released by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.0% in October. The Home Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.0%. Both indexes show monthly volatility but the trend has been relatively flat over 2014 and 2015…. Read More ›
Eye on the Economy: The Fed Moves
***Eye on the Economy is a biweekly survey of NAHB’s economic and housing analysis from Chief Economist David Crowe. After a long period of speculation, the Federal Reserve lifted its target for the short-term federal funds rate from 0-25 basis points to 25-50 basis points. The path of subsequent increases is expected to be gradual and will be dependent on the… Read More ›
Consumer Prices in November – Predicting Fed Action
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.3% in November, slower than 2.4% in October. Meanwhile, excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.2% in November following 2.5% in… Read More ›