Recent Updates
- Hungary: Employment of Fostered Workers, Wages, Budapest Earnings (Aug)
- Norway: Capacity Utilization (Q3)
- Netherlands: Household Consumption (Aug), Consumer Confidence Survey (Oct)
- Hong Kong: Personal Bankruptcy Petitions (Sep), Centa City Index (Aug)
- Korea: Foreign Currency Deposits, Home Transactions (Sep)
- Singapore: Temperature Statistics (Sep)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Growth Continues; Pricing Pressure Eases
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index dipped to 22.2 during October...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Ease
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 (-8.7% y/y) during the week ended October 13...
U.K. Retail Sales: Doing Well-As-Can-Be-Expected Despite September Drop
U.K. retail sales and growth have all held up remarkably well- so far...
U.S. Housing Starts Decline
Total housing starts fell 5.3% during September to 1.201 million units (AR)...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Continue to Decline As Interest Rates Rise
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Index fell 7.1% (-23.3% y/y) in the week ending October 12...
by Tom Moeller July 17, 2007
The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) fell last month to the lowest level since early 1991. At 28 for June, the index fell 6.7% from May and fell by one third from a year earlier.
During the last twenty years there has been a 76% correlation between the y/y change in the Composite Index and the change in single family housing starts.
The sub-index for current sales also fell 6.5% from May (-38.3% y/y) and the sub-index covering prospective sales in the next six months fell 4.9% m/m (-23.5% y/y).
Traffic of prospective home buyers fell 4.5% (-27.6% y/y).
The NAHB index is a diffusion index based on a survey of builders. Readings above 50 signal that more builders view conditions good than poor.
Visit the National Association of Home Builders.
| Nat'l Association of Home Builders | June | May | June '06 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Housing Market Index | 28 | 30 | 42 | 42 | 67 | 68 |
