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Economy in Brief
U.S. New Home Sales and Prices Strengthen
Sales of new single-family homes during March increased 4.0% (8.8% y/y) to 694,000 (SAAR)...
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Continues to Strengthen
The FHFA index of U.S. house prices rose 0.6% during February...
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.80 per gallon last week (14.3% y/y)...
Italian Confidence Backtracks But Remains High-Valued As It Is for France and Germany
From Q1 2008 to date, Italian GDP actually has failed to grow and has declined by 5.8%...
U.S. Existing Home Sales & Prices Rise Again
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes increased 1.1% during March (-1.2% y/y) to 5.600 million units (AR)...
by Carol Stone, CBE December 27, 2017
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that pending home sales increased 0.2% (0.8% y/y) during November to an index level of 109.5 (2001=100). This followed their 3.5% jump in October. Sales were 3.6% below their recent peak in April 2016.
Sales changes were mixed by region in November. Those in the Northeast rose 4.1% (1.1% y/y) to an index level of 98.9, after edging up 0.5% in October. In the Midwest, they were up 0.4% (0.8% y/y) to 105.8, following October's 2.4% advance. In contrast, sales slowed in the South by 0.4% (2.5% y/y) to 123.1, thus pausing after October's 7.4% surge. And in the West, sales were down 1.8% (-2.3% y/y) to 100.4 after inching down 0.1% in October. The widely varying index levels themselves indicate that home sales trends are hardly standard across the country; sales in the South have historically been more vigorous than elsewhere, but relative strength otherwise shifts back and forth among the other regions
The pending home sales index measures home sales when the sales contract is signed, analogous to the Census Bureau's new home sales data. In contrast, the National Association of Realtors' existing home sales data are recorded when the sale is closed. In developing the pending home sales index, the NAR found that the level of monthly sales contract activity parallels the level of closed existing home sales in the following two months. The series dates back to 2001, and the data are available in Haver's PREALTOR database.
Pending Home Sales (SA, 2001=100) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Nov Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 109.5 | 109.3 | 105.6 | 0.8 | 109.8 | 108.8 | 101.2 |
Northeast | 98.9 | 95.0 | 94.5 | 1.1 | 96.3 | 90.7 | 83.9 |
Midwest | 105.8 | 105.4 | 102.9 | 0.8 | 107.3 | 107.1 | 100.3 |
South | 123.1 | 123.6 | 115.1 | 2.5 | 122.8 | 123.0 | 115.5 |
West | 100.4 | 102.2 | 102.3 | -2.3 | 102.5 | 102.4 | 93.1 |