by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2015 09:08:00 PM

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for June. Although this is the June report, it is really a 3 month average of April, May and June prices. The consensus is for a 5.2% year-over-year increase in the Comp 20 index for June. The Zillow forecast is for the National Index to increase 4.3% year-over-year in June.

• At 9:00 AM, FHFA House Price Index for June 2015. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index. The consensus is for a 0.4% month-to-month increase for this index.

• At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for July from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for an increase in sales to 516 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in July from 482 thousand in June.

• At 10:00 AM, Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for August.


To put the recent sell-off in perspective, here is a graph (click on graph for larger image) from Doug Short and shows the S&P 500 since the 2007 high ...

by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2015 04:24:00 PM

While I was on vacation, there were several key economic releases. I'm catching up ...

The NAR reported last week: Existing-Home Sales Maintain Solid Growth in July

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.59 million in July from a downwardly revised 5.48 million in June. Sales in July remained at the highest pace since February 2007 (5.79 million), have now increased year-over-year for ten consecutive months and are 10.3 percent above a year ago (5.07 million). ...

Total housing inventory at the end of July declined 0.4 percent to 2.24 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 4.7 percent lower than a year ago (2.35 million). Unsold inventory is at a 4.8-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.9 months in June.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.

Sales in July (5.59 million SAAR) were 2.0% higher than last month, and were 10.3% above the July 2014 rate.

The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.

According to the NAR, inventory decreased to 2.24 million in July from 2.25 million in June.   Headline inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and inventory usually decreases to the seasonal lows in December and January, and peaks in mid-to-late summer.

The third graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.

Inventory decreased 4.7% year-over-year in July compared to July 2014.  

Months of supply was at 4.8 months in June.

This was above expectations of sales of 5.40 million.

As always, new home sales are more important for jobs and the economy than existing home sales. Since existing sales are existing stock, the only direct contribution to GDP is the broker's commission. There is usually some additional spending with an existing home purchase - new furniture, etc - but overall the economic impact is small compared to a new home sale. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the seasonally adjusted pace for existing home sales slows over the next several months due to limited inventory.

Inventory is still very low (down 4.7% year-over-year in July). More inventory would probably mean smaller price increases and slightly higher sales, and less inventory means lower sales and somewhat larger price increases. This will be important to watch.

Also, the NAR reported total sales were up 10.3% from July 2014, however normal equity sales were up even more, and distressed sales down sharply.  From the NAR (from a survey that is far from perfect):

Representing the lowest share since NAR began tracking in October 2008, distressed sales — foreclosures and short sales — declined to 7 percent in July from 8 percent in June; they were 9 percent a year ago. Five percent of July sales were foreclosures and 2 percent were short sales.

Last year in July the NAR reported that 9% of sales were distressed sales.

A rough estimate: Sales in July 2014 were reported at 5.07 million SAAR with 9% distressed.  That gives 456 thousand distressed (annual rate), and 4.64 million equity / non-distressed.  In July 2015, sales were 5.59 million SAAR, with 7% distressed.  That gives 391 thousand distressed - a decline of about 14% from July 2014 - and 5.20 million equity.  Although this survey isn't perfect, this suggests distressed sales were down sharply - and normal sales up around 13%.

The following graph shows existing home sales Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA).

Sales NSA in July (red column) were the highest for July since 2006 (NSA).

by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2015 01:47:00 PM

While I was on vacation, there were several major economic releases. I'm catching up ...

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,206,000. This is 0.2 percent above the revised June estimate of 1,204,000 and is 10.1 percent above the July 2014 rate of 1,095,000.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 782,000; this is 12.8 percent above the revised June figure of 693,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 413,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,119,000. This is 16.3 percent below the revised June rate of 1,337,000, but is 7.5 percent above the July 2014 estimate of 1,041,000.

Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 679,000; this is 1.9 percent below the revised June figure of 692,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 412,000 in July.
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) decreased in July.  Multi-family starts were down slightly year-over-year.

Single-family starts (blue)  increased in July and are up about 19% 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 - after moving sideways for a couple of years - housing is now recovering (but still historically low),

Total housing starts in July were above expectations, and, including the upward revisions to May and June, starts were solid - especially single family starts.

This third graph shows the month to month comparison between 2014 (blue) and 2015 (red).

Even with weak housing starts in February and March, total starts are still running 11.3% ahead of 2014 through July.

Single family starts are running 11.2% ahead of 2014 through July.

Starts for 5+ units are up 12.2% for the first six months compared to last year.

Below is an update to the 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).

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

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

The rolling 12 month total for starts (blue line) increased steadily over the last few years, and completions (red line) have lagged behind - but completions have been catching up (more deliveries), and will continue to follow starts up (completions lag starts by about 12 months).

Multi-family completions are increasing sharply.

I think most of the growth in multi-family starts is probably behind us - in fact multi-family starts might have peaked - although I expect solid multi-family starts for a few more years (based on demographics).

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

Note the exceptionally low level of single family starts and completions.  The "wide bottom" was what I was forecasting several years ago, and now I expect several years of increasing single family starts and completions.

A strong report, especially for single family starts.

by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2015 11:14:00 AM

Note: I follow several house price indexes (Case-Shiller, CoreLogic, Black Knight, Zillow, FHFA, FNC and more). Note: Black Knight uses the current month closings only (not a three month average like Case-Shiller or a weighted average like CoreLogic), excludes short sales and REOs, and is not seasonally adjusted.

From Black Knight: U.S. Home Prices Up 0.9 Percent for the Month; Up 5.1 Percent Year-Over-Year

Today, the Data and Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: BKFS) released its latest Home Price Index (HPI​) report, based on June 2015 residential real estate transactions. The Black Knight HPI combines the company's extensive property and loan-level databases to produce a repeat sales analysis of home prices as of their transaction dates every month for each of more than 18,500 U.S. ZIP codes. The Black Knight HPI represents the price of non-distressed sales by taking into account price discounts for REO and short sales.

For a more in-depth review of this month’s home price trends, including detailed looks at the 20 largest states and 40 largest metros, please download the full Black Knight HPI Report.

The Black Knight HPI increased 0.9% percent in June, and is off 5.8% from the peak in June 2006 (not adjusted for inflation).

The year-over-year increase in the index has been about the same for the last nine months.

The report has data for the 20 largest states, and 40 MSAs.

Black Knight shows prices off 38.5% from the peak in Las Vegas, off 31.5% in Orlando, and 27.9% off from the peak in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (Inland Empire).

Note: Case-Shiller for June will be released tomorrow.

by Calculated Risk on 8/24/2015 09:55:00 AM

The Chicago Fed released the national activity index (a composite index of other indicators): Index shows economic growth picked up in July

Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to +0.34 in July from –0.07 in June. Two of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index increased from June, and three of the four categories made positive contributions to the index in July.

The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, edged up to a neutral reading in July from –0.08 in June. July’s CFNAI-MA3 suggests that growth in national economic activity was at its historical trend. The economic growth reflected in this level of the CFNAI-MA3 suggests limited inflationary pressure from economic activity over the coming year.
emphasis added

This graph shows the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (three month moving average) since 1967.

Click on graph for larger image.

This suggests economic activity was close to the historical trend in July (using the three-month average).

According to the Chicago Fed:

What is the National Activity Index? The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of national economic activity drawn from four broad categories of data: 1) production and income; 2) employment, unemployment, and hours; 3) personal consumption and housing; and 4) sales, orders, and inventories.

A zero value for the index indicates that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend rate of growth; negative values indicate below-average growth; and positive values indicate above-average growth.