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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 April 23, 2019
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Price Index for house purchases rose 0.3% in February following an unrevised 0.6% January increase. The 4.9% y/y increase was the weakest since early-2015, down from a 7.6% high early in 2018.
Monthly increases in prices were strongest in the East South Central and New England regions of the country, although y/y increases were either moderately below or stable with last year.
Home price inflation decelerated sharply in the East North Central, West North Central, West South Central and Pacific regions of the country.
Declines in house prices were logged in February in both the Middle Atlantic and Mountain regions. Twelve-month price increases slowed dramatically after strengthening during all of last year.
The FHFA house price index is a weighted purchase-only index that measures average price changes in repeat sales of the same property. The indexes are based on transactions involving conforming, conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Only mortgage transactions on single-family properties are included. The FHFA data are available in Haver's USECON database.
| FHFA U.S. House Price Index, Purchase Only (SA %) |
Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.9 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.0 |
| New England | 1.1 | -0.6 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 4.1 |
| Middle Atlantic | -1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| East North Central | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| West North Central | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 4.9 | 6.2 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| South Atlantic | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 6.9 |
| East South Central | 1.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| West South Central | 0.4 | 0.8 | -0.2 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 5.7 |
| Mountain | -0.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 7.8 |
| Pacific | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.0 |
|
