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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 March 29, 2019
The housing market has been exhibiting strength recently. New home sales increased 4.9% (0.6% y/y) during February to 667,000 (SAAR) from 636,000 in January, revised from 607,000. December sales also were revised up. It was the highest level of sales since last March. February sales of 617,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These sales transactions are recorded when sales contracts are signed or deposits are made.
The median price of a new home increased 3.8% (-3.6% y/y) to $315,300 from 303,900 during January, revised from $317,200. The average price of a new home rebounded 6.0% (1.6% y/y to $379,600 and recovered January's decline.
By region, sales patterns remained mixed. Purchases in the Northeast surged by roughly one-quarter to 33,000 (-28.3% y/y), while sales in the Midwest also strengthened by roughly one-quarter to 77,000 (-3.7% y/y). New home sales in the South improved 1.8% to 391,000 (6.8% y/y), the highest level since July 2007. In the West, sales held steady m/m at 166,000 (-2.9% y/y), the highest level since July of last year.
With the improvement in sales, the months' supply of homes on the market declined to 6.1 in February, the lowest level since June. It took longer, however, to sell a new home. The median number of months a new home was on the market after its completion increased to 3.8 months, the most since April.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y % | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 667 | 636 | 588 | 0.6 | 620 | 616 | 560 |
Northeast | 33 | 26 | 30 | -28.3 | 33 | 40 | 32 |
Midwest | 77 | 60 | 63 | -3.7 | 76 | 72 | 69 |
South | 391 | 384 | 363 | 6.8 | 350 | 341 | 317 |
West | 166 | 166 | 132 | -2.9 | 161 | 164 | 142 |
Median Price (NSA, $) | 315,300 | 303,900 | 322,800 | -3.6 | 322,550 | 321,633 | 306,500 |