by Calculated Risk on 10/17/2019 08:44:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,256,000. This is 9.4 percent below the revised August estimate of 1,386,000, but is 1.6 percent above the September 2018 rate of 1,236,000. Single‐family housing starts in September were at a rate of 918,000; this is 0.3 percent above the revised August figure of 915,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 327,000.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,387,000. This is 2.7 percent below the revised August rate of 1,425,000, but is 7.7 percent above the September 2018 rate of 1,288,000. Single‐family authorizations in September were at a rate of 882,000; this is 0.8 percent above the revised August figure of 875,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 470,000 in September.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) were down in September compared to August.   Multi-family starts were down 5.1% year-over-year in September.

Multi-family is volatile month-to-month, and  has been mostly moving sideways the last several years.

Single-family starts (blue) increased in September, and were up 4.3% year-over-year.

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then eventual recovery (but still historically low).

Total housing starts in September were below expectations - mostly due to a decline in the volatile multi-family sector - however starts for July and August were revised up combined.

I'll have more later …

by Calculated Risk on 10/17/2019 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending October 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 214,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 210,000. The 4-week moving average was 214,750, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 213,750.
emphasis added

The previous week was unrevised.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.

Click on graph for larger image.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 214,750.

This was close to the consensus forecast.

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2019 07:16:00 PM

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM, Housing Starts for September. The consensus is for 1.300 million SAAR, down from 1.364 million SAAR.

• Also at 8:30 AM, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for 215,000 initial claims, up from 210,000 last week.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for October. The consensus is for a reading of 7.1, down from 12.0.

• At 9:15 AM, The Fed will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for September. The consensus is for a 0.2% decrease in Industrial Production, and for Capacity Utilization to decline to 77.8%.

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2019 12:54:00 PM

The CAR reported: Greater buying power amid historically low rates bolsters September home sales, C.A.R. reports

Amid the most favorable mortgage interest rates in nearly three years, California’s housing market recorded a third consecutive year-over-year sales increase as month-over-month sales remained essentially flat, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 404,030 units in September, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. The statewide annualized sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2019 if sales maintained the September pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

September’s sales figure was down 0.5 percent from the 406,100 level in August and up 5.8 percent from home sales in September 2018 of a revised 382,040. The year-over-year sales increase was the largest in two-and-a-half years.

“The housing market has been performing better so far in the second half of 2019, with both sales and prices up as mortgage rates remain near their three-year lows,” said C.A.R. President Jared Martin. “Additionally, pending sales have been on an upward trend with a near-10 percent increase over a year ago, making it the largest gain in three years. The solid improvement in pending sales suggests that the market may see more sales gains in the coming months.”
...
After 15 straight months of year-over-year increases, active listing fell for the third straight month, dropping 11.8 percent from year ago. The decline was the largest since December 2017.

The Unsold Inventory Index (UII), which is a ratio of inventory over sales, was 3.5 months in September, up from 3.2 in August and down from 4.2 months in September 2018. The index measures the number of months it would take to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
emphasis added

Here is some inventory data from the NAR and CAR (ht Tom Lawler).   Note that this is the third consecutive YoY decrease in inventory in California since early 2018.

YOY % Change, Existing SF Homes for Sale
	NAR (National)	CAR (California)
Sep-17	-8.4%	-11.2%
Oct-17	-10.4%	-11.5%
Nov-17	-9.7%	-11.5%
Dec-17	-11.5%	-12.0%
Jan-18	-9.5%	-6.6%
Feb-18	-8.6%	-1.3%
Mar-18	-7.2%	-1.0%
Apr-18	-6.3%	1.9%
May-18	-5.1	8.3%
Jun-18	-0.5%	8.1%
Jul-18	0.0%	11.9%
Aug-18	2.1%	17.2%
Sep-18	1.1%	20.4%
Oct-18	2.8%	28%
Nov-18	4.2%	31%
Dec-18	4.8%	30.6%
Jan-19	4.6%	27%
Feb-19	3.2%	19.2%
Mar-19	1.8%	13.4%
Apr-19	1.7%	10.8%
May-19	2.1%	7.4%
Jun-19	-0.05%	2.4%
Jul-19	-1.0	-2.1%
Aug-19	-2.6	-8.9%
Sep-19	NA	-11.8%

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2019 10:06:00 AM

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) was at 71 in October, up from 68 in September. Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

From NAHB: Builder Confidence Hits 20-Month High

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose three points to 71 in October, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Sentiment levels are at their highest point since February 2018.

“The housing rebound that began in the spring continues, supported by low mortgage rates, solid job growth and a reduction in new home inventory,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn.

“The second half of 2019 has seen steady gains in single-family construction, and this is mirrored by the gradual uptick in builder sentiment over the past few months,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “However, builders continue to remain cautious due to ongoing supply side constraints and concerns about a slowing economy.”
…
All the HMI indices posted gains in October. The HMI index gauging current sales conditions increased three points to 78, the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months jumped six points to 76 and the measure charting traffic of prospective buyers rose four points to 54.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast posted a one-point gain to 60, the Midwest was up a single point to 58, the South registered a three-point increase to 73 and the West was also up three points to 78.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph show the NAHB index since Jan 1985.

This was above the consensus forecast.

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2019 08:41:00 AM

On a monthly basis, retail sales decreased 0.3 percent from August to September (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 4.1 percent from September 2018.

From the Census Bureau report:

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2019, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $525.6 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the previous month, but 4.1 percent above September 2018.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows retail sales since 1992. This is monthly retail sales and food service, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline).

Retail sales ex-gasoline were down 0.2% in September.

The second graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales and food service (ex-gasoline) since 1993.

Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased by 4.7% on a YoY basis.

The increase in September was below expectations, however sales in August were revised up.

by Calculated Risk on 10/16/2019 07:00:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications increased 0.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 11, 2019.

... The Refinance Index increased 4 percent from the previous week and was 199 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 12 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
...
“The ongoing interest rate volatility is impacting a borrowers’ ability to lock in the lowest rate possible. Despite a slight rise in mortgage rates last week, refinance applications increased 4 percent and were 199 percent higher than a year ago,” said Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Purchase applications slowed for the second week in a row. While near term economic uncertainty is still a factor, other fundamental issues, such as a lack of housing inventory in many markets, is preventing purchase activity from meaningfully rising. However, purchase applications were still much higher than a year ago. This is a reminder that the purchase environment in 2019 continues to be stronger than in 2018.””
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($484,350 or less) increased to 3.92 percent from 3.90 percent, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.


The first graph shows the refinance index since 1990.

With lower rates, we saw a sharp increase in refinance activity.   Mortgage rates would have to decline further to see a huge refinance boom.

The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index

According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 12% year-over-year.

by Calculated Risk on 10/15/2019 08:04:00 PM

Wednesday:
• At 7:00 AM ET, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

• At 8:30 AM, Retail sales for September will be released.  The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in retail sales.

• At 10:00 AM, The October NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of  68, unchanged from 68 in September. Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

by Calculated Risk on 10/15/2019 11:32:00 AM

Now that new home sales have reached a new cycle high (in June), I'd like to update a couple of graphs in a previous post (most of this from an earlier post).

For the economy, what we should be focused on are single family starts and new home sales. As I noted in Investment and Recessions "New Home Sales appears to be an excellent leading indicator, and currently new home sales (and housing starts) are up solidly year-over-year, and this suggests there is no recession in sight."

For the bottoms and troughs for key housing activity, here is a graph of Single family housing starts, New Home Sales, and Residential Investment (RI) as a percent of GDP.

Click on graph for larger image.

The arrows point to some of the earlier peaks and troughs for these three measures.

The purpose of this graph is to show that these three indicators generally reach peaks and troughs together. Note that Residential Investment is quarterly and single-family starts and new home sales are monthly.

RI as a percent of GDP has been sluggish recently.

Also, look at the relatively low level of RI as a percent of GDP, new home sales and single family starts compared to previous peaks.   To have a significant downturn from these levels would be surprising.

The second graph shows the YoY change in New Home Sales from the Census Bureau.

Note: the New Home Sales data is smoothed using a three month centered average before calculating the YoY change. The Census Bureau data starts in 1963.

Some observations:

1) When the YoY change in New Home Sales falls about 20%, usually a recession will follow. The one exception for this data series was the mid '60s when the Vietnam buildup kept the economy out of recession.   Note that the sharp decline in 2010 was related to the housing tax credit policy in 2009 - and was just a continuation of the housing bust.

2) It is also interesting to look at the '86/'87 and the mid '90s periods. New Home sales fell in both of these periods, although not quite 20%. As I noted in earlier posts, the mid '80s saw a surge in defense spending and MEW that more than offset the decline in New Home sales. In the mid '90s, nonresidential investment remained strong.

Although new home sales were down towards the end of 2018, the decline wasn't that large historically.  As I noted last Fall, I wasn't even on recession watch.   Now new home sales are up solidly year-over-year.  No worries.

by Calculated Risk on 10/15/2019 08:36:00 AM

From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey

Business activity grew slightly in New York State, according to firms responding to the October 2019 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index edged up two points to 4.0. There was only a small increase in new orders, but shipments picked up. Delivery times decreased slightly, while inventories were little changed. Employment levels and hours worked both increased modestly.
...
The index for number of employees came in at 7.6, pointing to ongoing modest employment gains, and the average workweek index rose seven points to 8.3, indicating that hours worked also increased.
…
Indexes assessing the six-month outlook suggested that optimism about future conditions improved somewhat but remained subdued. The index for future business conditions edged up three points to 17.1 but remained well below the levels seen for much of the past few years.
emphasis added

This was higher than the consensus forecast.