by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2012 02:30:00 PM

Teacher town hall meeting with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: Financial Education

Follow on Twitter #FedTownHall

If Bernanke hints at QE3, it will probably happen in the Q&A.

Live broadcasting by Ustream

by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2012 11:38:00 AM

Press Release: Trulia Reveals Asking Prices Up for Sixth Straight Month

Trulia today released the latest findings from the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor ... Based on the for-sale homes and rentals listed on Trulia, these monitors take into account changes in the mix of listed homes and reflect trends in prices and rents for similar homes in similar neighborhoods through July 31, 2012.

Asking prices on for-sale homes–which lead sales prices by approximately two or more months – increased 0.5 percent in July month over month (M-o-M), seasonally adjusted, for a sixth straight monthly gain. Meanwhile, asking prices rose nationally 1.2 percent quarter over quarter (Q-o-Q), seasonally adjusted. Year-over-year (Y-o-Y) asking prices rose by 1.1 percent; excluding foreclosures, asking prices rose Y-o-Y by 2.7 percent. For the first time, a majority (62 out of 100) of large metros had Y-o-Y price increases.
...
Rents increased Y-o-Y in 24 of the 25 largest rental markets, with rent increases topping 10 percent in San Francisco, Miami, Oakland, Denver, Seattle and Boston. Three months ago, only two large rental markets – San Francisco and Miami – had Y-o-Y rent increases of 10 percent or more. Rents are rising faster than asking prices in 21 of the 25 largest rental markets Y-o-Y.

More from Jed Kolko, Trulia Chief Economist: Step Aside, Florida: Biggest Price Gains Now in the West

Asking prices were up once again month over month in July, by 0.5%. Asking prices have moved up six straight months since February (the May number was revised slightly upward). This means that the sales price gains starting to be reported by Case-Shiller and other indexes should continue throughout the year.

Note: In a few months, Case-Shiller, CoreLogic and others will probably report a month-over-month decline in house prices, Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA). That is the normal seasonal pattern and doesn't mean prices are turning down. These asking prices are SA (Seasonally Adjusted) and suggest further house price increases through August and September on a SA basis. The key later this year will be to look at the SA indexes and the year-over-year change in prices.

by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2012 10:16:00 AM

From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary

There were 3.8 million job openings on the last business day of June, little changed from 3.7 million in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
...
The level of total nonfarm job openings in June was up from 2.4 million at the end of the recession in June 2009.
...
In June, the quits rate was unchanged for total nonfarm, total private, and government. The number of quits was 2.1 million in June, up from 1.8 million at the end of the recession in June 2009. ... Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs.

The following graph shows job openings (yellow line), hires (dark blue), Layoff, Discharges and other (red column), and Quits (light blue column) from the JOLTS.

This series started in December 2000.

Note: The difference between JOLTS hires and separations is similar to the CES (payroll survey) net jobs headline numbers. This report is for June, the most recent employment report was for July.

Click on graph for larger image.

Notice that hires (dark blue) and total separations (red and light blue columns stacked) are pretty close each month. When the blue line is above the two stacked columns, the economy is adding net jobs - when it is below the columns, the economy is losing jobs.

Jobs openings increased in June to 3.762 million, up from 3.657 million in May. The number of job openings (yellow) has generally been trending up, and openings are up about 16% year-over-year compared to June 2011. This is the most job openings since mid-2008.

Quits decreased slightly in June, however quits are up about 9.5% year-over-year. These are voluntary separations and more quits might indicate some improvement in the labor market. (see light blue columns at bottom of graph for trend for "quits").

All current employment graphs

by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2012 08:52:00 AM

Notes: This CoreLogic House Price Index report is for June. The Case-Shiller index released last week was for May. Case-Shiller is currently the most followed house price index, however CoreLogic is used by the Federal Reserve and is followed by many analysts. The CoreLogic HPI is a three month weighted average and is not seasonally adjusted (NSA).

From CoreLogic: CoreLogic® June Home Price Index Rises 2.5 Percent—Representing Fourth Consecutive Year-Over-Year Increase

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 2.5 percent in June 2012 compared to June 2011. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 1.3 percent in June 2012 compared to May 2012. The June 2012 figures mark the fourth consecutive increase in home prices nationally on both a year-over-year and month-over-month basis.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationwide increased on a year-over-year basis by 3.2 percent in June 2012 compared to June 2011. On a month-over-month basis excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 2.0 percent in June 2012 compared to May 2012, the fifth consecutive month-over-month increase. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that July home prices, including distressed sales, will rise by at least 0.4 percent on a month-over-month basis from June 2012 and by 2.0 percent on a year-over-year basis from July 2011.

“Home prices are responding positively to reductions in both visible and shadow inventory over the past year,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This trend is a bright spot because the decline in shadow inventory translates to fewer distressed sales, which helps sustain price appreciation.”

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the national CoreLogic HPI data since 1976. January 2000 = 100.

The index was up 1.3% in May, and is up 2.5% over the last year.

The index is off 29% from the peak - and is up 7% from the post-bubble low set in February (the index is NSA, so some of the increase is seasonal).

The second graph is from CoreLogic. The year-over-year comparison has turned positive.

This is the fourth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase, and excluding the tax credit bump, these are the first year-over-year increases since 2006.

by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2012 08:33:00 AM

From the WSJ: Fed Official Calls for Bond Buying

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, called on the Fed to launch an aggressive, open-ended bond buying program that the central bank would continue until economic growth picks up and unemployment starts falling again.

His call came in an interview with The Wall Street Journal ... His decision to speak out forcefully is a sign of the momentum building inside the Fed for a new phase of action.

Mr. Rosengren said the Fed should buy more mortgage-backed securities and possibly U.S. Treasury securities in an open-ended program, and state that it will continue to buy bonds "until we start seeing some pretty significant improvements in growth and income."

Rosengren isn't currently a voting member, but it does seem like momentum is building for QE3.