Recent Updates
- China Regional: China: Beijing Household Expenditure and Income (Q2)
- New Zealand: Food Price Index, PMI, Main Benefits (Jul)
- New Zealand: Jobseeker Support by Territorial Authority (Jul)
- Korea: Import & Export Price Indexes Press (Jul)
- US: Business Formation Statistics, Producer Prices (Jul)
- more updates...
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 August 16, 2007
The Composite Housing Market Index from the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) fell hard this month to the lowest level since early 1991. At 22, for August, the index fell 8.3% from July after a 14.3% during that month.
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 was down and fell 4.2% (-37.8% y/y) from July. The sub-index covering prospective sales in the next six months dropped 5.9% m/m (-22.0% y/y).
Traffic of prospective home buyers fell 15.8% m/m (-27.3% 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 | August | July | Aug. '06 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composite Housing Market Index | 22 | 24 | 33 | 42 | 67 | 68 |