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Housing Sector

Housing Market Faces Headwinds

This morning the Case-Shiller HPI dropped by -1.1% in Q4 on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. The index was down -2.51% on an annual basis. This compares to a 3.31% quarterly rise in the third quarter.  I continue to believe that housing prices will come under continued pressure throughout 2010 after the expiration of the government’s […]

What To Look For This Week

This week I am going to keep a close eye on several housing reports, which include January’s new (Wed) and existing (Fri) home sales along with December’s Case Shiller HPI (Tue)–December is the first month after what would have been the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit.  December’s home prices likely came […]

Home Sales All Around Disappoint

New Homes sales plummeted to a pace of 342K units in December, falling 7.6% from a revised 370K in November (originally 355K). The current Bloomberg consensus forecast was for a pace of 368K. The supply of new homes climbed during the month to 8.1 months versus 7.6 in November. The median new home price rose […]

Existing Home Sales– Surprise to the Upside

November’s existing home sales rose 7.4% to 6.54 million units, after a marginal downward revision to 6.09 million units in October from 6.10. This increment was above market expectations, and likely driven primarily by what would have been the expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit at the end of the November. The months’ […]

Housing Pains & Inflation Creep

October’s Housing Starts disappointed the market finishing at an annual rate of 529,000 (-10.6%), while September’s release was revised up to 592K from 590K. Permit’s in October declined -4.0%, to 552K. Single-family starts fell -6.8%, while multi-family homes plummeted by -34.6%. The Bloomberg consensus forecast was for starts at 600K, with forecasts ranging from 570K […]

Mortgage Purchase Aps Realize a Precipitous Decline

The MBA’s mortgage application index rose 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis the week prior to November 6. The week’s positive performance was derived entirely from the refinance index, which rose 11.3%, while the purchase index dropped -11.7%–reaching its lowest level since December 2000. A wave of buyers, filling out multiple mortgage applications, that were […]

Morning Macro Recap: ISM & Pending Home Sales

The ISM manufacturing index rose in October to 55.7 from 52.6 in September, which was above expectations.  This was the highest reading for the index since April.  The prices paid index climbed to 65.0 in October from 63.5 a month prior. The employment index jumped to 53.1 during the month from 46.2 in September. The […]

New Homes Sales & Durable Goods

September’s new home sales came in at a disappointing seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402K units, compared to a revised pace of 417K a month prior.  In September the supply of new homes remained stable at 7.5 months. The median new home price increased by 2.5% to $204,800.  The reason for the decline can likely […]

Consumer Confidence Hits 4 Month Low…

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined to 47.7 in October from a revised figure of 53.4.  This was well below the consensus forecast of 53.1, and the lwoest reading in four months.  The October Present Situation index came in at 20.7 compared to 23.0 in September, while the October Expectations index finished at 65.7 […]

Housing Starts Disappoint & PPI Turns Negative

September Housing Starts finished the month at an annual rate of 590K (+0.5%). At the same time, August Housing Starts were revised down to 587K versus its original release of 598K. Housing permits declined by -1.2%, to 573K. Unlike starts, August permits experienced a modest upward revision to 580K from 579K. Single-family starts rose +3.9%, […]