by Calculated Risk on 5/29/2009 10:53:00 AM

Click on map for larger image.

Here is a map of the three month change in the Philly Fed state coincident indicators. All 50 states are showing declining three month activity.

This is the new definition of "Red states" and this is what a widespread recession looks like based on the Philly Fed states indexes.

On a one month basis, activity decreased in 45 states in April. Here is the Philadelphia Fed state coincident index release for April.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has released the coincident indexes for all 50 states for April 2009. In the past month, the indexes increased in three states, decreased in 45, and were unchanged in the other two, for a one-month diffusion index of -84. Over the past three months, the indexes decreased in all 50 states, for a three-month diffusion index of -100.

The second graph is of the monthly Philly Fed data of the number of states with one month increasing activity. Most of the U.S. was has been in recession since December 2007 based on this indicator.

Almost all states showed declining activity in April. Still a widespread recession ...

by Calculated Risk on 5/29/2009 10:02:00 AM

Yesterday I posted a graph labeled the distressing gap showing that existing home sales have held up much better during the housing bust than new home sales - probably because of distressed sales (foreclosure resales and short sales).

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the same information, but as a ratio for existing home sales divided by new home sales (ht Michael)

The recent change in the ratio is probably related to distressed sales - home builders cannot compete with REO sales, and this has pushed down new home sales while keeping existing home sales activity elevated.

Although distressed sales will stay elevated from some time, eventually I expect this ratio to decline - with a combination of falling existing home sales and eventually rising new home sales.

The second graph shows the ratio back to 1969 (annual data before 1994).

Note: the NAR has changed their data collection over time and the older data does not include condos: Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began.

by Calculated Risk on 5/29/2009 08:57:00 AM

From Tim Duy's Fed Watch: A Return to a Nasty External Dynamic?

An excerpt:

[W]e are stuck with two apparently contrasting views. On one hand, rising long rates and the related steepening of the yield curve should indicate improving economic conditions - after all, rising yields simply imply that market participants are gaining confidence to put their money to work in more risky endeavors. The steeper yield curve should boost bank earnings and, in time, encourage lending. On the other hand, higher yields may undermine support for the housing market, thus extending the downturn.

And Duy concludes:

I want to believe that the rapid reversal of Treasury yields is a benign, even positive, event. This is likely the Fed's view; consequently, the[y] will hold steady on policy. Challenging this benign view is that the reversal appears to be lock step with a return to dynamics seen in 2007 and 2008 - exceedingly low US rates encouraging Dollar outflows, stepping up the pace of foreign central bank reserve accumulation and putting upward pressure on key commodity prices. I worry that policymakers have forgotten the external dynamic that was hidden by the crisis induced flight to Dollars last fall. Indeed, capital outflows (indicated by a foreign central bank effort to reverse those flows) would signal that much work still needs to be done to curtail US consumption to bring the global economy back into balance. Policymakers are unprepared for this possibility.

A long post well worth reading.

by Calculated Risk on 5/28/2009 11:52:00 PM

From The Times: House prices halved in FSA stress test

The key assumptions in the stress test were that the economy would shrink by 6 per cent from peak to trough with growth not returning until 2011 and trend growth not until 2012. The regulators also assumed unemployment rising to 12 per cent of the workforce, or 3.7 million people, which is 1.5 million more than the present number and would be a higher level of joblessness even than in the recession of the early 1980s.

Finally, the FSA posited a 50 per cent fall in house prices from their peak and a 60 per cent fall in commercial property prices - office blocks and shops.

So far, house prices have fallen by 19 per cent from their peak in October 2007, according to the Nationwide Building Society.
...
Analysts said the stress test parameters were, if anything, not severe enough. The market is already expecting a peak-to-trough fall in GDP of 4.5 per cent and unemployment peaking at 10.5 per cent, “which is not significantly better than the assumptions made,” analysts at Credit Suisse commented. However, the house price scenario did look more extreme, it added.

The U.S. more adverse scenario is for unemployment to rise to 10.4% and house prices (Case-Shiller Composite 10) to fall by almost half.

And how about a 60% decline in commercial real estate? How would that impact the S&P CMBS assumptions?

by Calculated Risk on 5/28/2009 08:35:00 PM

In a research note today, Citigroup analysts estimated that "more than $75 billion of CMBS market capitalization has been lost" since the S&P request for comment on changes to their U.S. CMBS rating methodology was issued two days ago.

S&P noted:

Our preliminary findings indicate that approximately 25%, 60%, and 90% of the most senior tranches (by count) within the 2005, 2006, and 2007 vintages, respectively, may be downgraded.

Citigroup commented that the changes were "a complete surprise", "flawed", lacked "justification" and the "S&P methodology changes do not seem rational or predictable". Ouch.

Citi also noted that this will impact the CMBS legacy TALF announced last week by the Fed. According to Citi the "S&P changes could impact nearly 40% of the triple-A TALF eligible universe" and they expect the Fed to change their criteria.