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Economy in Brief
UK Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Reading since 1996
(when the GFK survey began; also lowest reading 'ever')
Of these 13 readings eight of them declined on the month in May three of them improved and two of them were unchanged...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in April as Houses Become Less Affordable
The combination of soaring home prices across the nation and rising interest rates is making homes less affordable...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell in April
Five of the index's components fell in April, one was unchanged and four increased...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose in the Latest Week
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely...
CBI Gauge in the UK Continues to Be Upbeat
The global economy has a lot of challenges...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits and Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller July 26, 2012
Pending sales of single-family homes fell 1.4% last month after a little revised 5.4% May rise, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales have risen nearly one-third versus the 2010 low. Nevertheless, the sales index of 99.3 was down 21.8% versus the April 2005 peak.
Sales fell last month across most of the country led by a 7.6% decline (+12.2% y/y) in the Northeast followed by a 2.0% fall (+8.8% y/y) in the South. Sales also slipped 0.4% (+17.3% y/y) in the Midwest but gained 2.6% (3.0% y/y) in the West.
Pending home sales figures are analogous to the new home sales data from the Commerce Department in that they measure existing home sales when the sales contract is signed, not at the time the sale is closed. The series dates back to 2001 and the data are available in Haver's PREALTOR database.
How Big is the Output Gap? from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta can be found here.
| Pending Home Sales (2001=100) | Jun | May | Apr | Y/Y% | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 99.3 | 100.7 | 95.5 | 9.5 | 90.3 | 89.2 | 94.7 |
| Northeast | 76.6 | 82.9 | 79.1 | 12.2 | 68.0 | 70.9 | 76.8 |
| Midwest | 94.4 | 94.8 | 93.0 | 17.3 | 81.6 | 79.9 | 88.9 |
| South | 106.2 | 108.4 | 105.7 | 8.8 | 98.3 | 97.0 | 98.4 |
| West | 111.5 | 108.7 | 94.9 | 3.0 | 104.2 | 100.8 | 109.2 |
