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Monday, May 25, 2015

Tuesday: New Home Sales, Case-Shiller House Prices, Durable Goods and More

by Calculated Risk on 5/25/2015 08:13:00 PM

From Bloomberg: What Would Happen If Greece Doesn’t Pay the IMF: Q&A

Q: What will the IMF do?

A: A missed payment date starts the clock ticking. Two weeks after the initial due date and a cable from Washington urging immediate payment, the fund sends another cable stressing the “seriousness of the failure to meet obligations” and again urges prompt settlement. Two weeks after that, the managing director informs the Executive Board that an obligation is overdue. For Greece, that’s when the serious consequences kick in. These are known as cross-default and cross-acceleration.
From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: currently S&P futures are down 3 and DOW futures are down 20 (fair value).

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders for April from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.6% decrease in durable goods orders.

• At 9:00 AM, the FHFA House Price Index for March 2015. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index.

• At 9:00 AM, the S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for March. Although this is the March report, it is really a 3 month average of January, February and March prices. The consensus is for a 4.6% year-over-year increase in the Comp 20 index for March.

• At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for April from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for an increase in sales to 509 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in April from 481 thousand in March.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for May.

• At 10:30 AM, Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey for May.

Gasoline Prices: Down a Dollar from last year on Memorial Day

by Calculated Risk on 5/25/2015 10:11:00 AM

According to Gasbuddy.com (see graph at bottom), gasoline prices are down to a national average of $2.75 per gallon. One year ago for the week of Memorial Day, prices were at $3.75 per gallon, and for the same week two years ago prices were $3.70 per gallon.

Ten years ago, price were at $2.17 per gallon, and fifteen years ago at $1.57.

Memorial DayWeekly Average
Gasoline Price
29-May-00$1.57
28-May-01$1.74
27-May-02$1.43
26-May-03$1.53
31-May-04$2.10
30-May-05$2.17
29-May-06$2.94
28-May-07$3.25
26-May-08$3.99
25-May-09$2.49
31-May-10$2.84
30-May-11$3.90
28-May-12$3.73
27-May-13$3.70
26-May-14$3.75
25-May-15$2.75


According to Bloomberg, WTI oil is at $59.40 per barrel, and Brent is at $65.37 per barrel.  Last year on Memorial Day, Brent was at $110.01 per barrel, and two years ago Brent was at $103.77.

Note: If you click on "show crude oil prices", the graph displays oil prices for WTI, not Brent; gasoline prices in most of the U.S. are impacted more by Brent prices.



Orange County Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Hotels: RevPAR up almost 50% since 2009

by Calculated Risk on 5/24/2015 10:01:00 PM

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) is now at $85.50. In May 2009, RevPAR had fallen to $58.39. So, RevPAR is up 46.9% over the last 6 years - and the occupancy rate will probably be at a new record high this year.  A great year for hotels!

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results for week ending 16 May

The U.S. hotel industry recorded positive results in the three key performance measurements during the week of 10-16 May 2015, according to data from STR, Inc.

In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy increased 0.5 percent to 70.3 percent. Average daily rate increased 5.2 percent to finish the week at US$122.10. Revenue per available room for the week was up 5.7 percent to finish at US$85.80.
emphasis added
The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.

Hotel Occupancy Rate Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2015, dashed orange is 2014, blue is the median, and black is for 2009 - the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels.  Purple is for 2000.

The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is solidly above the median for 2000-2007, and solidly above last year.

Right now 2015 is even above 2000 (best year for hotels) - and 2015 will probably be the best year on record for hotels.

Data Source: Smith Travel Research, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com

Report: Greece will not make June IMF Payment

by Calculated Risk on 5/24/2015 11:30:00 AM

From the WSJ: Greece Won’t Meet IMF Repayments in June, Interior Minister Says

Greece said Sunday that it won’t have the money it is due to repay to the International Monetary Fund next month unless it strikes a deal with international creditors over further rescue funding.

Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis told privately owned television station Mega that Greece is scheduled to repay €1.6 billion ($1.76 billion) to the IMF between June 5-19, but the payments cannot be met.

“This money will not be given,” he said. “It does not exist.”

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Schedule for Week of May 24, 2015

by Calculated Risk on 5/23/2015 08:31:00 AM

The key reports this week are April New Home sales on Tuesday, the 2nd estimate of Q1 GDP on Friday, and March Case-Shiller house prices on Tuesday.

For manufacturing, the May Richmond and Dallas Fed surveys will be released this week.

----- Monday, May 25th -----

All US markets will be closed in observance of Memorial Day.

----- Tuesday, May 26th -----

8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for April from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.6% decrease in durable goods orders.

9:00 AM: FHFA House Price Index for March 2015. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index.

Case-Shiller House Prices Indices9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for March. Although this is the March report, it is really a 3 month average of January, February and March prices.

This graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted National Index, Composite 10 and Composite 20 indexes through the February 2015 report (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The consensus is for a 4.6% year-over-year increase in the Comp 20 index for March. The Zillow forecast is for the National Index to increase 4.2% year-over-year in March, and for prices to increase 1.0% month-to-month seasonally adjusted.

New Home Sales10:00 AM: New Home Sales for April from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the March sales rate.

The consensus is for an increase in sales to 509 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in April from 481 thousand in March.

10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for May.

10:30 AM: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey for May.

----- Wednesday, May 27th -----

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

10:00 AM: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly), April 2015

----- Thursday, May 28th -----

8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decrease to 270 thousand from 274 thousand.

10:00 AM: Pending Home Sales Index for April. The consensus is for a 0.8% increase in the index.

----- Friday, May 29th -----

8:30 AM: Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2015 (second estimate). The consensus is that real GDP decreased 0.9% annualized in Q1, revised down from the 0.2% advance estimate.

9:45 AM: Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for May. The consensus is for a reading of 53.0, up from 52.3 in April.

10:00 AM: University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (final for May). The consensus is for a reading of 90.0, up from the preliminary reading of 88.6, and down from the April reading of 95.9.