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Economy in Brief
U.S. Durable Goods Report: Strong Headline, Weaker Details
New orders for durable goods increased 1.2% (3.5% year-on-year) during December following an upwardly-revised 1.0% gain...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Slide
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell a greater-than-expected 1.2% in January...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Tumbles in February
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported manufacturing conditions weakened considerably in February with its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Decline
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 216,000 in the week ended February 16, down 23,000 from the previous week's...
EMU PMIs Continue to Move Together...Mostly Lower
The composite EMU German and French indices all rose by small amounts...
by Tom Moeller March 21, 2013
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes improved 0.8% (10.2% y/y) during February to a 4.98M annual rate. The increase followed an upwardly revised 0.8% January rise. The latest fell short of Consensus expectations for 5.00M sales. Sales of existing single-family homes alone slipped 0.2% to 4.360M, up 8.7% y/y. (These data have a longer history than the total sales series.) Sales of condos and co-ops rose 8.8% m/m to 0.620, up 21.6% y/y and were at the highest level since 2007.
The median price of an existing home rose 1.8% (11.6% y/y) to $173,600. In the Northeast, the median sales price of $238,800 was up 7.6% y/y. In the West, the median price rose 22.7% y/y to $237,700. In the South, the price of $150,500 was up 9.3% y/y and in the Midwest the price rose 7.7% y/y to $129,000.
The supply of homes on the market ticked up slightly from its seven-year low to 4.7 months. The months' supply of single-family homes on the market also rose to a low 4.7 months and for condos & coops it was 4.9 months. The total number of homes on the market rose 9.6% m/m but still was off 19.2% y/y. Inventories of single-family homes fell the same 19.2% y/y while inventories of multi-family homes were off 19.3% y/y.
Reported earlier this month, the composite index of home price affordability slipped 0.5% y/y. Mortgage payments as a percent of income m/m were a low 12.1% versus the high of roughly 25.0% in 2006. The average monthly mortgage rate was 3.47%.
The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability can be found in Haver's USECON database. The regional price, affordability and inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
Existing Home Sales (Thous, SAAR) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Y/Y% | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 4,980 | 4,940 | 4,900 | 10.2 | 4,661 | 4,278 | 4,183 |
Northeast | 630 | 650 | 620 | 8.6 | 596 | 543 | 563 |
Midwest | 1,140 | 1,160 | 1,120 | 12.9 | 1,067 | 918 | 909 |
South | 2,010 | 1,960 | 1,940 | 14.9 | 1,833 | 1,683 | 1,626 |
West | 1,200 | 1,170 | 1,220 | 1.7 | 1,165 | 1,133 | 1,084 |
Single-Family Sales | 4,360 | 4,370 | 4,330 | 8.7 | 4,130 | 3,793 | 3,705 |
Median Price, Total, ($, NSA) | 173,600 | 170,600 | 180,200 | 11.6 | 175,442 | 164,542 | 172,442 |