Eye On Housing
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller recently released the Home Price Index (HPI) for March. The price index reported by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) decelerated in March, slowing to an annualized growth rate of 4.2% from 7.8% in February. Monthly growth rates have been volatile but have trended down since the recent peak… Read More ›
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 future’s economy. They are both highly (inversely) correlated with the unemployment rate. Based on the data from the past three decades, the Consumer Confidence Index and the Consumer Sentiment Index increase when the unemployment rate… Read More ›
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 ›
Home builders ratcheted up construction in April to a level not seen since November 2007. Total starts increased 20.2% from March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.135 million. The increase was broad based, with a 16.7% jump in single-family starts to an annual pace of 733,000, the highest since January 2008, and a multifamily increase of 27.2% to an… Read More ›
Spring brought good news for housing: a rise in pending and completed existing home sales. New home sales declined significantly in March, but the current pace of newly-built home purchases is up almost 20% from a year ago. Existing home sales soared 6.1% in March, with the share of sales for first-time buyers also increasing, according to estimates from the… Read More ›
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 ›
After a disappointing set of housing data last month, recent reports suggest a return to trend for home building as the nation enters the spring home buying season. Home builders reversed a one-month decline in sentiment as the April NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) increased 4 points to 56 in April from a one-point downwardly revised 52 in March…. Read More ›
The March employment report disappointed most economists, casting some doubt on the strength of the labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that payroll employment expanded by only 126,000 positions, with downward revisions totaling 69,000 for previously reported jobs gains in January and February. While the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5%, the downshift in the size of monthly… Read More ›
Builders signed contracts on more homes last month than any time since early 2008, according to figures released by the Census Bureau and HUD. February seasonally adjusted annual new home sales topped out at a 539,000 annual pace, up 7.8% from a healthy 500,000 rate in January. In percentage terms, sales increased the most in the Northeast (153% over the… Read More ›
While housing and the economy are off to a slow start at the beginning of 2015, positive developments in the labor market are a source of growing momentum, particularly for housing demand. In February, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that payroll employment expanded by 295,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5%. It is important… Read More ›