by Calculated Risk on 3/20/2012 12:14:00 PM

From the Philly Fed:

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has released the coincident indexes for the 50 states for January 2012. In the past month, the indexes increased in 48 states, decreased in one (Alaska), and remained unchanged in one (Wisconsin) for a one-month diffusion index of 94. Over the past three months, the indexes increased in 48 states, decreased in one, and remained unchanged in one for a three-month diffusion index of 94.

Note: These are coincident indexes constructed from state employment data. From the Philly Fed:

The coincident indexes combine four state-level indicators to summarize current economic conditions in a single statistic. The four state-level variables in each coincident index are nonfarm payroll employment, average hours worked in manufacturing, the unemployment rate, and wage and salary disbursements deflated by the consumer price index (U.S. city average). The trend for each state’s index is set to the trend of its gross domestic product (GDP), so long-term growth in the state’s index matches long-term growth in its GDP.

Click on graph for larger image.

This is a graph is of the number of states with one month increasing activity according to the Philly Fed. This graph includes states with minor increases (the Philly Fed lists as unchanged).

In January, 49 states had increasing activity, up from 47 in December. This is the highest level since January 2007.

Here is a map of the three month change in the Philly Fed state coincident indicators. This map was all red during the worst of the recession.

Now only Alaska is red, and Wisconsin unchanged. The recovery may be sluggish, but it is widespread geographically.

Earlier:
• Housing Starts decline slightly in February
• Starts and Completions: Multi-family and Single Family

by Calculated Risk on 3/20/2012 10:37:00 AM

For a couple of years I've been posting a graph comparing multi-family starts and completions. Since it usually takes over a year on average to complete a multi-family project, there is a lag between multi-family starts and completions. Completions are important because that is new supply added to the market, and starts are important because that is future new supply (units under construction is also important for employment).

This month (second graph) I've added a graph for single family starts and completions. It usually only takes about 6 months between starting a single family home and completion - so the lines are much closer.

These graphs use a 12 month rolling total for NSA starts and completions.

Click on graph for larger image.

The blue line is for multifamily starts and the red line is for multifamily completions.

The rolling 12 month total for starts (blue line) has been increasing since mid-2010. And completions (red line) are now following starts up.

It is important to emphasize that even with a strong increase in multi-family construction, it is 1) from a very low level, and 2) multi-family is a small part of residential investment (RI).

The blue line is for single family starts and the red line is for single family completions.

In February, the rolling 12 month total for starts is above completions for the first time since May 2006. This usually only happens at a bottom, although the recovery for single family starts will probably remain sluggish.

by Calculated Risk on 3/20/2012 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000. This is 1.1 percent (±15.9%)* below the revised January estimate of 706,000 (revised up from 699,000), but is 34.7 percent(±16.7%) above the February 2011 rate of 518,000.

Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 457,000; this is 9.9 percent (±11.4%)* below the revised January figure of 507,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 233,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000. This is 5.1 percent (±1.2%) above the revised January rate of 682,000 and is 34.3 percent (±3.1%) above the February 2011 estimate of 534,000.

Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 472,000; this is 4.9 percent (±1.2%) above the revised January figure of 450,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 219,000 in February.

Click on graph for larger image.

Total housing starts were at 698 thousand (SAAR) in February, down 1.1% from the revised January rate of 706 thousand (SAAR). Note that January was revised up from 699 thousand.

Single-family starts declined 9.9% to 457 thousand in February. Permits moved higher, so single family starts will probably increase in March.

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

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and that total housing starts have been increasing lately after sideways for about two years and a half years. Total starts are up 34.7% from a year ago.

This was slightly below expectations of 700 thousand starts in February.

All Housing Investment and Construction Graphs

by Calculated Risk on 3/19/2012 07:01:00 PM

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the S&P 500 since 1990 (this excludes dividends).

The dashed line is the closing price today. The S&P 500 was first at this level in July 1999; almost 13 years ago.

The second graph (click on graph for larger image) from Doug Short shows the sharp increase over the last few months.

by Calculated Risk on 3/19/2012 03:53:00 PM

Some interesting data from economist Tom Lawler (the FHA remains a significant problem):

Updated data from the FHA’s early warning system shows that the number of FHA-insured SF loans serviced by entities with a combined FHA SF servicing portfolio of almost 7.4 million loans totaled 722,030 at the end of February, down from 732,775 in January. While this report doesn’t always exactly match other FHA reports, it tracks the “official” numbers pretty closely. Here, e.g., are the reported number of seriously delinquent FHA-insured SF loans from the EWS and from the FHA’s monthly Outlook Report.

Seriously Delinquent FHA-Insured SF Loans
	EWS	Outlook
Oct-11	657,552	661,554
Nov-11	690,271	689,346
Dec-11	713,793	711,082
Jan-12	732,775	733,844
Feb-12	722,030

Assuming the EWS numbers are reasonable estimates for February’s SDQ total, here is some historical data. In the table on the next page, the FHA insurance in force is number of loans, and is from the Monthly Report to the FHA Commissioner. These numbers differ from those in the FHA Outlook Report, for reasons unclear to me. The data on the number of SDQ loans in the Commissioner report and the Outlook report are the same save for March 2011, and I believe the Commissioner report has an incorrect number, so I used the March 2011 number from the Outlook report (aarrgh!).

	FHA SF Insured Portfolio	Seriously Delinquent	SDQ Rate
10/31/2010	6,658,560	532,938	8.00%
11/30/2010	6,724,304	588,947	8.76%
12/31/2010	6,813,888	598,140	8.78%
1/31/2011	6,889,701	612,443	8.89%
2/28/2011	6,933,260	619,712	8.94%
3/31/2011	6,984,580	580,480	8.31%
4/30/2011	7,036,153	575,950	8.19%
5/31/2011	7,079,820	578,933	8.18%
6/30/2011	7,152,140	584,822	8.18%
7/31/2011	7,203,809	598,921	8.31%
8/31/2011	7,260,598	611,822	8.43%
9/30/2011	7,288,440	635,096	8.71%
10/31/2011	7,342,712	661,554	9.01%
11/30/2011	7,378,126	689,346	9.34%
12/31/2011	7,415,002	711,082	9.59%
1/31/2012	7,464,533	733,844	9.83%
2/29/2012	7,499,802	722,030	9.63%

CR Note: Fannie and Freddie serious delinquencies are down year-over-year, but the FHA delinquencies are up from 8.94% in Feb 2011 to 9.63%.