Economy in Brief: May 2014

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that their total Mortgage Market Volume Index declined 1.2% last week (-49.8% y/y) and retraced the earlier week's rise. Applications remained two-thirds below the peak in September 2012. [...]

The U.S. House Price Index from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA) increased 0.7% during March, the strongest gain in three months. The year-to-year growth rate eased, however, to 6.4% from an 8.5% peak in July of last [...]

The Conference Board reported that their reading of consumer confidence improved to 83.0 this month from 81.7 in April, revised from 82.3. The latest figure remained nearly the highest since January 2008 and matched expectations in [...]

Consumer confidence in Italy rose to 106.3 in May from 105.5 in April. This is the strongest reading since 2010. The three-month rise in the index is 8.4 points, which is the fifth highest three-month gain since November 1989. The [...]

Manufacturing sector activity continues to register surprising improvement. New orders for durable goods increased 0.8% during April (7.1% y/y) following a 3.6% March rise, initially reported as 2.6%. The increase beat expectations [...]

New home sales during April increased 6.4% m/m to 433,000 (AR) from a revised 407,000 in March, initially reported as 384,000. Sales remained 5.7% below the peak in June of last year. The latest figure beat expectations for 425,000 [...]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City reported that its May Composite index of 10th District factory sector activity rebounded to 10 versus 7 in April. These figures were at the highest levels since early-2012. The composite index [...]

The German Ifo survey slipped to an index level of 110.4 in May from 111.2 in April. Both the current situation and the business expectations components fell on the month. The index and its components still are well above their [...]