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Economy in Brief
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
U.S. CPI Unchanged in July with Drop in Energy Prices
Consumer prices were unchanged in July after an outsized 1.3% m/m jump in June...
U.S. Federal Government Budget Deficit Shrinks in July
The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $211.1 billion in July...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Slightly in the Latest Week
Mortgage applications increased 0.2% (-62.9% y/y) from one week earlier...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller November 17, 2005
The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Composite Housing Market Index fell a hard 11.8% in November to 60, the lowest level since May 2003.
During the last twenty years the y/y change in the annual composite index has had an 85% correlation with the change in single family housing starts and there has been a 75% correlation between the current sales index and new single family home sales.
The m/m drop reflected sharp declines throughout the country.
The index for current sales of single family homes in November fell sharply to the lowest level since May 2003. The index for sales in six months also fell hard the lowest in over two years.
The NAHB index is a diffusion index based on a survey of builders. Readings above 50 signal that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
Visit the National Association of Home Builders.
Nat'l Association of Home Builders | Nov | Oct | Nov '04 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composite Housing Market Index | 60 | 68 | 70 | 68 | 64 | 61 |