Category: US Housing
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Friday, October 21, 2011
U.S. Housing Sector Needs a Supportive Nudge / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of existing homes, inclusive of condos, fell 3.0% in September to an annual rate of 5.03 million units after an 8.4% increase in August. Sales of existing single-family homes dropped 3.6% to an annual rate of 4.47 million units in September vs. a 9.0% jump in August. As Chart 1 indicates, sales of existing homes are far from the peak registered in 2005 and are very close to cycle lows seen in 2008 (The wide swings in home sales in 2009-10 are related to the temporary first-time home buyer credit program).
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A Decade of Household Deleveraging? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The recent trend of consumer spending is lackluster and, in fact, worrisome such that Chairman Bernanke has mentioned it in speeches over the past month. Real disposable personal income has posted a meager 0.3% gain in August 2011 (see Chart 1) and consumer spending shows a noticeably decelerating trend. The obvious reply to answers about the reasons for soft growth in consumer spending is related to lack of hiring.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
U.S. The Housing Market is Finally Bottoming, Here's How to Play It / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
The housing market remains a drag on the economy, but there are indications that it is finally starting to bottom.
Prices have stopped declining, and there is even some sign of life in sales.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
U.S. House Prices, Expect Lower Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Bill_Bonner
Cash is still king. Cash is king because non-cash is a commoner and a loser…it’s losing its value. An article in the Financial Times, for example, tells that:
“US inflation expectations at lowest point in year.”
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Case-Shiller Home Price Index - Noteworthy Improvement, But Durability is Uncertain / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller Home Price Index held steady in July, matching the readings of the prior two months. These readings are a significant improvement after the string of declines of home prices seen for an extended period (see Chart 1). The gains in 2009 and 2010 are related to the first-home buyer program which was in place only for a short period. The encouraging news is that the FHFA House Price Index shows price gains for each of the four months ended July and the Core Logic House Price Index posted increases in three out of the last four months.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
U.S. August New Home Sales Still Hovering around Recession Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of new single-family homes fell 2.3% to an annual rate of 295,000 in August, which marks the sixth monthly decline in the first eight months of the year and the level of sales remains close to the record low of 278,000 seen precisely a year ago. Sales of new homes fell in the Northeast (-13.6%), West (-6.3%), and South (-2.4%) but rose in the Midwest (+8.2%) during August.
Friday, September 23, 2011
U.S. House Prices Rise for Fourth Month / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.8% in July, marking the fourth monthly increase. The Core-Logic House Price Index also has posted gains in the each of the four months ended July (see Chart 5). Both these price indexes show a moderation of year-to-year price declines (see Chart 6), with the July drop being less negative than the June readings.
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Recover, But Level Still Close to Recession Low / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of all existing homes rose 7.7% to an annual rate of 5.03 million units. Single-family unit sales were stronger (+8.5%). Regionally, sales of existing homes increased in all four regions, with the nearly 19% jump in the West as the largest gain. From a year ago, sales of existing single-family homes have posted double-digit gains in July and August because of a base effect. Sales of existing homes in July-August 2010 fell sharply after the first-time home buyer credit program expired. Therefore, the year-to-year comparisons partly exaggerate the trend of existing homes sales.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
U.S. Home Construction Declines, Permits Post a Small Gain / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Construction of new homes and apartments fell 5.0% to an annual rate of 571,000 during August after a 2.3% drop in the prior month. Starts of both multi-family (-13.5%) and single-family starts (-1.4%) fell in August. The disappointing news is that the level of housing starts continues to hover at recession lows. The nearly 30% drop of housing starts in the Northeast and a 3.3% drop in the South brought down the headline, while housing starts rose in the Midwest (+2.6%) and West (+2.2%).
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Thursday, September 08, 2011
Time To 'Invest' in Real Estate Again? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Bill_Bonner
“And they shall grind the face of the poor…” ~ Isaiah
The markets were closed yesterday. Which was a good thing. The lights were out in Congress. Economists went to barbecues. Central bankers stayed home with their families. And investors didn’t bother to check their blackberries to find the latest prices.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
U.S. Pending Home Sales Index Slips in July / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) of the National Association of Realtors fell 1.3% in July, after two monthly gains. The PHSI leads actual sales of existing homes by 1-2 months. The July drop of the index bodes poorly for actual sales of homes in August and September. Sales of existing homes have posted declines in three out of the four months ended July. The level of existing home sales is close to recession lows even after two years of economic recovery.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sales of U.S. New Homes Still Holding Close to Recession Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of new single-family homes fell 0.7% to an annual rate of 298,000 in July following downwardly revised readings for May (309,000 vs. 315,000) and June (300,000 vs. 312,000). The level of new home sales is close to the record low registered in August 2010 (see Chart 1).
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
U.S. Housing Market Rebound Unlikely Anytime Soon / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
Dragged down by such anchors as a bulging pipeline of foreclosures and a dearth of buyers, it will be many more months - if not years - before a housing market rebound takes hold.
Symptoms of the limping U.S. economy, primarily an unemployment rate above 9% and weak consumer confidence, along with much stricter lending rules, have helped keep buyers scarce.
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Monday, August 01, 2011
The Next Down Leg of the U.S. Housing Bear Market has Begun / Economics / US Housing
By: Clif_Droke
Now that the latest round of quantitative easing (QE) has ended, it's time to take stock of whether inflation or deflation is likely to gain the upper hand going forward.
The Fed's monetary stimulus efforts of the last three years have done nothing to help what is arguably the biggest symptom of long-term deflation, namely the housing market. It's important to recall that the final "hard down" portion of the 60-year cycle of inflation/deflation cycle began with a collapse of real estate prices. The real estate bear market has been the chief evidence of deflation in the U.S. for the housing market prior to the crash represented the biggest form of savings for most Americans.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
U.S. Housing Market in Gold, 70% to 80% Price Crash / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Adrian_Ash
Inflationary or deflationary depression, it's like the long boom of affordable mortgages never happened...
SO IS the U.S. housing market nearing its low? Priced against gold it just might be.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Fall, Partly Due to Cancellations / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of existing homes declined 0.8% to an annual rate of 4.77 million units in June. The cycle low for sales of existing homes, excluding the swings related to the first-time home buyer credit program, is 4.5 million units, recorded in November 2008. Effectively, sales of existing homes have risen 6.0% from the cycle low mark (see Chart 1). Sales of single-family homes held steady at 4.24 million in June, up 5.5% from the cycle low reading of 4.02 million in November 2008.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
U.S. Home Construction Advanced in June, But Inadequate to Declare the Housing Market Recovery is Here / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Housing starts rose 14.6% to an annual rate of 629,000 in June, the first increase since March. Construction of single-family units moved up 9.4% to annual rate of 453,000 in June, the highest level since October 2010. These improvements in home building activity are a positive development but the level of total housing starts is about 72% below the peak registered in January 2006 (2.273 million units).
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Chinese Homebuyers Throw a Life Raft to the U.S. Housing Market / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Money_Morning
Jason Simpkins writes:
From New York to Honolulu, Chinese homebuyers are swooping in to help salvage the U.S. housing market.
Indeed, California, Florida, New York, and even Hawaii have seen a marked up-tick in home sales to Chinese buyers who are exporting their country's real estate boom to the United States, according to Bloomberg News.
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Thursday, June 30, 2011
U.S. Housing Market Few Positives Remain Inadequate / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The National Association of Realtors reported an 8.2% jump of the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) in May to 88.8. The PHSI when advanced by two months tracks sales of existing homes closely (see Chart 1).
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
U.S. House Price Indexes Stability? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Latest reports on home prices are somewhat encouraging. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index (HPI) of April edged down 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis and advanced 0.7% on a seasonally unadjusted basis from March. The seasonally adjusted drop of the Case-Shiller HPI is smallest since July 2010.
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