Filtered by Subscriptions: US Housing Use setting US Housing
The Case- Shiller measure of house prices showed that home values are continuing to grind higher, with the annual rate now at its highest level in almost a year. Tight supply conditions are behind the increase, and point to further gains this year. … …
27th October 2015
New home sales recorded a surprise drop of 11.5% in September. Yet new home sales data are notoriously volatile. And, given the strong performance of existing home sales in September, as well as the positive outlook for new home sales implied by other …
26th October 2015
Existing home sales rebounded by 4.7% in September. While there are a number of factors pointing to a moderation in sales over the coming months, over the medium-term the outlook is broadly positive. … Existing Home Sales …
22nd October 2015
As expected, housing starts resumed their upward trend in September, confirming that the disruption over the summer caused by the expiry of a tax-break in New York has now worked through. While the number of building permits issued dropped back to a …
20th October 2015
Lenders have accelerated the easing of mortgage lending standards in recent months, thanks to a steady reduction in mortgage delinquencies and new GSE policies. That has started to boost the number of first-time buyers – a necessary development if the …
16th October 2015
On the basis of past form, the fact the rental vacancy rate has hit a 30-year low would suggest rental growth is set to surge. But the drop in the vacancy rate is being exaggerated by a rise in the number of empty homes being kept off the market. Other …
13th October 2015
The drop in mortgage rates towards the end of September has given mortgage applications a boost, as did the introduction of new disclosure requirements for mortgages as buyers acted early to avoid anticipated delays. A steady recovery in housing starts is …
9th October 2015
The uncertainty generated by September’s Federal Reserve meeting, combined with a drop in mortgage rates to below 4% for the first time since May, helped applications for house purchase reverse most of the dip seen in July and August. … Mortgage …
7th October 2015
House prices rose by a substantial 1.5% m/m seasonally adjusted in August according to CoreLogic. Even accounting for the fact that early estimates of house price growth on this measure tend to get revised down, this data provides further evidence that …
6th October 2015
House prices are picking up again on the back of a very tight housing market.But over the next couple of years, as greater numbers of new homes come onto the market andowners of existing properties see more opportunities to move, conditions should ease, …
2nd October 2015
By posting a 0.5% gain during July, the national Case-Shiller index of house prices is beginning to move into line with other measures which have shown far stronger house price gains in recent months. With inventory levels low and mortgage applications …
29th September 2015
New home sales are finally building momentum, and are up by over 18% since June. While low levels of inventory suggest the pace of growth will slow, early evidence that mortgage applications for house purchase are on the up should ensure sales see further …
24th September 2015
After three months of gains, subdued mortgage lending and low inventory levels meant existing home sales fell back in August. Those factors will weigh on sales in the short term, but as lending recovers sales should pick up by the end of the year. … …
21st September 2015
The new Home Purchase Sentiment Index from Fannie Mae has a good track record in forecasting measures of housing market activity. While future performance may not be as impressive, the drop in sentiment over the past couple of months points to a slowdown …
18th September 2015
As expected, the disruption caused by the expiry of a tax-break in New York led to a drop in housing starts in August. But with homebuilder confidence elevated and building permits already recovering, the upwards trend in starts should resume soon. … …
17th September 2015
The first quarter’s recovery in mortgage applications for home purchase appears to have been derailed by a lack of earnings growth and the resulting deterioration in affordability. While earnings shouldpick-up, rates are also poised to rise, suggesting …
10th September 2015
Housing market activity on most measures has seen further gains. Existing home sales rose unexpectedly in July, and are now up 16% since the start of the year. And while starts were essentially flat in July, they are up 10% over the same period, and …
9th September 2015
The drop in interest rates triggered by the market turmoil of the past couple of weeks has given a boost to refinancing activity. Applications for home purchase have been more sluggish, but with credit conditions loosening and employment rising, the small …
2nd September 2015
CoreLogic report that house prices saw a very large rise of 1.5% seasonally-adjusted in July, pushing the annual rate to a 12-month high. Tight market conditions are driving house prices higher, a trend that is set to continue this year. … CoreLogic …
1st September 2015
The housing market is well placed to cope with a gradual rise in interest rates. Indeed, there is some evidence that a gentle rise in rates can spur some potential buyers to get into the market before the best deals are gone, providing a modest short-term …
28th August 2015
New home sales reversed part of June’s sharp fall in July, and alongside a surge in existing sales that has led to the tightest market conditions in a decade. Surprisingly, those tight conditions have yet to feed through to the Case-Shiller measure of …
25th August 2015
Against expectations, existing home sales rose once again in July, to their highest level since the start of 2007. But with the months’ supply of existing homes dropping to its lowest level in a decade, a lack of choice will start to dissuade buyers and …
20th August 2015
The recovery in housing starts continues, as builders respond to improving demandfor new-build homes. The expiry of a tax-break in New York City has distorted thebuilding permit data but other leading indicators, such as homebuilder confidence,point to …
18th August 2015
The share of mortgage borrowers having trouble with repayments dropped again in the second quarter, thanks to low mortgage rates, rising house prices and a solid labour market. That progress should continue, providing a boost to mortgage lending. … …
13th August 2015
Total home sales increased to nearly 6m annualised in June. This was the fastest pace of sales since before the financial crisis and is a clear sign that the market is gradually normalising. Moreover, even if the Fed increases rates twice this year, …
10th August 2015
The upward trend in mortgage interest rates seems to be holding back mortgage applications. However, provided the labour market continues to strengthen as we expect, looser credit conditions and favourable affordability suggest that Fed tightening need …
5th August 2015
Although the CoreLogic measure of annual house price growth increased again in June, the underlying pace of gains has slowed since the start of the year. As a result, the index is finally falling back into line with the other measures of price growth. … …
4th August 2015
Most evidence suggests that credit conditions are loosening, albeit very gradually. As it becomes clearer that the housing and wider economic recoveries are strong enough to cope with a gradual rise in interest rates, lender caution should dissipate, …
29th July 2015
Today’s housing market data suggest that the recent slowdown in house price growth may now be going into reverse. They also support our view that rental value growth could soon reach a 30-year high. … Homeownership & Vacancy Rates / Case-Shiller …
28th July 2015
New home sales unexpectedly declined in June, and have struggled to make much progress since the start of the year. However, the recent growth in existing sales shows that housing demand is strengthening. With the labour market improving steadily and …
24th July 2015
The rise in existing home sales to their highest level since before the financial crisis provides further evidence that the housing recovery has shifted into a higher gear. The resilience of the wider economy and high levels of consumer confidence should …
22nd July 2015
The strong rise in housing starts in June suggests that the home building recovery is building momentum after recent volatility. With demand for new homes strengthening and home builder confidence at its highest level in almost a decade, we expect further …
17th July 2015
Recent survey data suggest that the recovery in housing starts would have been stronger if not for shortages of labour within some specialised trades. But although a scarcity of labour may be preventing builders from constructing as many homes as they …
14th July 2015
Housing activity has strengthened in recent months. Indeed, gains in both new and existing home sales in May pushed total sales up to their highest level in eight years. Strong growth in jobs and incomes, a long-overdue upturn in mortgage lending and high …
9th July 2015
A slowdown in the monthly pace of price growth suggests that the CoreLogic index is finally falling back into line with other measures. After the rapid acceleration at the start of the year, we expect the index to continue growing at a more modest pace. … …
7th July 2015
The recent strength of housing activity suggests the market is well placed to cope with a gradual rise in interest rates. Indeed, with credit conditions gradually loosening and affordability very favourable, we expect sales and prices to enjoy further …
2nd July 2015
Home purchase mortgage applications edged higher again in June despite another big rise in interest rates. The pace of growth has slowed, but we are hopeful that mortgage demand can make more meaningful progress in the months ahead, helping to close the …
1st July 2015
The continued slowdown in the Case-Shiller measure of house price growth seems odd when other indicators of housing activity have strengthened markedly and the wider economy is growing at a healthy pace. Accordingly, we are not changing our view that …
30th June 2015
Strong growth in both new and existing sales in May pushed total home sales up to an eight-year high. This confirms that the renewed strength in the labour market and consumer spending are feeding through into a sizable boost to housing activity … New …
23rd June 2015
Existing home sales rebounded to their highest level in almost six years in May, showing that the boosts to housing activity from strong jobs growth and looser credit conditions have outweighed any adverse impact from the recent rise in mortgage rates. …
22nd June 2015
We are forecasting housing starts to surge by almost 40% over the next few years, reaching 1.5m by the end of 2017. It’s possible that starts could rise even more rapidly in the short term as builders make up for under-building in recent years. But there …
19th June 2015
Despite the drop back in housing starts in May, the recent data show that homebuilders’ confidence in the housing recovery is growing. Coupled with mounting evidence of a second-quarter rebound in the wider economy, this suggests that starts will resume …
16th June 2015
Negative house price growth in D.C. in the first quarter is a worrying development given that the economy has underperformed and housing looks highly overvalued. This doesn’t necessarily signal the start of a sustained downturn, but the prospects for D.C. …
11th June 2015
Housing starts surged by 20% m/m to a seven-year high of 1.14m annualised in April, as homebuilders finally put the weather-related difficulties at the start of the year behind them. Looking ahead, the labour market continues to improve at a healthy pace, …
8th June 2015
Refinancing activity took another big hit in May as mortgage interest rates rose to their highest level this year. However, mortgage applications for home purchase held on to their recent gains and we are hopeful that demand will continue to build in the …
3rd June 2015
The CoreLogic index continues to show a rapid acceleration in house price inflation. But downward revisions to previous data, as well as the recent weakness in consumer spending, mean we are inclined to take the latest reading with a pinch of salt. … …
2nd June 2015
New home sales reversed much of the previous month’s decline in April. For now, this doesn’t seem to be exerting much upward pressure on price growth. Nonetheless, the conditions are in place for house price growth to pick up soon. … Case-Shiller Prices …
26th May 2015
The drop in existing home sales in April was probably just payback for a strong rise in March rather than a sign the market is faltering again. The strengthening labour market and favourable affordability should help sales resume their upward trend soon. …
21st May 2015
Housing starts soared to a seven-year high in April, as homebuilding activity finally rebounded after the weak start to the year. Looking ahead, this should provide a platform for further steady progress in starts over the coming months. … Housing Starts …
19th May 2015
The sharp rise in home purchase mortgage applications, to a two-year high in April, was an encouraging sign that the market may finally be turning a corner after years of stagnation. Admittedly, applications are still well below the level of home sales, …
12th May 2015
