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Economy in Brief
U.S. FHFA House Price Rise Moderates
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases increased 0.2% in July (6.4% y/y)...
Philadelphia Fed Nonmanufacturing Business Activity Index Improves
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level increased to 46.8 in September...
U.S. Gasoline Prices Remain High; Crude Oil Costs Strengthen
Gasoline prices, at $2.84 per gallon last week (10.1% y/y), were unchanged from the prior week...
French Manufacturing Takes a Sizable Step Back
France's INSEE manufacturing survey fell sharply as the headline climate index shed the better part of three points...
Texas Factory Sector Index Retreats; Expectations Are Mixed
The Dallas Fed indicated in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity Index fell to 28.1 in September...
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 |
