by Calculated Risk on 8/26/2015 03:01:00 PM

Economist Tom Lawler sent me an updated table below of short sales, foreclosures and cash buyers for selected cities in July.

On distressed: Total "distressed" share is down in most of these markets.  Distressed sales are up in the Mid-Atlantic due to an increase in foreclosures.

Short sales are down in all of these areas.

The All Cash Share (last two columns) is declining year-over-year. As investors pull back, the share of all cash buyers will probably continue to decline.

	Short Sales Share		Foreclosure Sales Share		Total "Distressed" Share		All Cash Share
	Jul- 2015	Jul- 2014	Jul- 2015	Jul- 2014	Jul- 2015	Jul- 2014	Jul- 2015	Jul- 2014
Las Vegas	7.0%	11.5%	7.7%	9.1%	14.7%	20.6%	27.1%	35.6%
Reno**	3.0%	4.0%	2.0%	8.0%	5.0%	12.0%
Phoenix	2.8%	3.7%	3.5%	5.9%	6.3%	9.6%	23.4%	24.8%
Sacramento	4.7%	5.7%	4.6%	6.3%	9.3%	12.1%	18.1%	20.9%
Minneapolis	1.9%	3.1%	5.4%	9.3%	7.3%	12.4%
Mid-Atlantic	3.4%	4.3%	9.4%	7.7%	12.8%	12.1%	15.8%	17.1%
Orlando	3.7%	8.3%	20.1%	24.4%	23.8%	32.7%	34.5%	39.3%
Bay Area CA*	2.4%	2.8%	2.4%	2.6%	4.8%	5.4%	20.1%	20.7%
So. California*	3.2%	4.3%	3.9%	4.6%	7.1%	8.9%	21.7%	25.1%
Florida SF	3.3%	5.9%	16.3%	20.7%	19.6%	26.6%	32.8%	37.7%
Florida C/TH	2.4%	19.1%	15.2%	19.1%	17.6%	38.1%	59.2%	64.3%
Chicago (city)					13.5%	17.7%
Hampton Roads					15.1%	17.2%
Spokane					9.0%	12.2%
Northeast Florida					26.4%	31.0%
Toledo							27.0%	32.9%
Tucson							23.7%	26.2%
Peoria							15.6%	18.4%
Georgia***							20.3%	24.1%
Omaha							13.9%	17.0%
Knoxville							21.8%	25.5%
Richmond VA MSA			8.4%	12.1%			18.1%	18.4%
Memphis			12.6%	13.3%
Springfield IL**			5.6%	7.2%
*share of existing home sales, based on property records **Single Family Only ***GAMLS

by Calculated Risk on 8/26/2015 11:59:00 AM

The Case-Shiller house price indexes for June were released yesterday. Zillow forecasts Case-Shiller a month early, and I like to check the Zillow forecasts since they have been pretty close.

From Zillow: July Case-Shiller: Expect a Slight Uptick in Appreciation

The June S&P/Case-Shiller (SPCS) data published today showed home prices continuing to rise at an annual rate of five percent for the 20-city composite and 4.6 percent for the 10-city composite. The national index has risen 4.5 percent since June 2014.

The non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) 10- and 20-city indices were both down 0.1 percent from May to June. We expect the change in the July SPCS to show increases of 0.8 percent for the 20-city index and 0.7 percent for the 10-City Index.

All Case-Shiller forecasts are shown in the table below. These forecasts are based on today’s June SPCS data release and the July 2015 Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), release August 24. The SPCS Composite Home Price Indices for July will not be officially released until Tuesday, September 28.

This suggests the year-over-year change for the July Case-Shiller National index will be slightly higher than in the June report.

Zillow Case-Shiller Forecast
	Case-Shiller Composite 10		Case-Shiller Composite 20		Case-Shiller National
	NSA	SA	NSA	SA	NSA	SA
June Actual YoY	4.6%	4.6%	5.0%	5.0%	4.5%	4.5%
July Forecast YoY	4.8%	4.8%	5.2%	5.2%	4.6%	4.6%
July Forecast MoM	0.7%	0.1%	0.8%	0.1%	0.7%	0.3%

by Calculated Risk on 8/26/2015 09:31:00 AM

This was released last week while I was on vacation.

Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment.

From the AIA: Architecture Firm Billings Continued to Rise in July

Business conditions at U.S. architecture firms continued to improve in July. While the pace of growth of architecture firm billings decreased modestly from June, the ABI score of 54.7 for the month indicates that firm billings remain on the upswing overall. In addition, there continues to be plenty of work in the pipeline, with firms reporting strong inquiries into new projects as well as the highest design contracts score since the end of 2014.
...
By firm specialization, firms with an institutional focus are still reporting some of the strongest business conditions they have ever experienced, and firms with a commercial/industrial specialization continue to recover from some softness earlier in the year. In addition, firms with a residential specialization are coming close to emerging from the slump that they have experienced for the last six months, which came on the heels of several years of strong growth. Scores for this segment have been ticking up for the last two months and will hopefully return to positive territory before the end of the summer.
...
Sector index breakdown: institutional (57.3), commercial / industrial (53.4) multi-family residential (49.8)
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the Architecture Billings Index since 1996. The index was at 54.7 in July, down from 55.7 in June. Anything above 50 indicates expansion in demand for architects' services.

Note: This includes commercial and industrial facilities like hotels and office buildings, multi-family residential, as well as schools, hospitals and other institutions.  The multi-family residential market was negative for the sixth consecutive month - and this might be indicating a slowdown for apartments - or at least less growth.

According to the AIA, there is an "approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending" on non-residential construction.  This index was positive in 10 of the last 12 months, suggesting a further increase in CRE investment over the next 12 months.

by Calculated Risk on 8/26/2015 07:00:00 AM

From the MBA: Increase in Government Purchase Loans Drive Overall Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications increased 0.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 21, 2015. ...

The Refinance Index decreased 1 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.3 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.08 percent from 4.11 percent, with points decreasing to 0.36 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.


The first graph shows the refinance index.

Refinance activity remains very low.

2014 was the lowest year for refinance activity since year 2000, and refinance activity will probably stay low for the rest of 2015 (after the increase earlier this year).


The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.  

According to the MBA, the unadjusted purchase index is 18% higher than a year ago.

by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2015 08:46:00 PM

Wednesday:
• At 7:00 AM ET, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

• At 8:30 AM, Durable Goods Orders for July from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.4% decrease in durable goods orders.

This is a leading indicator for industry production, from the ACC: Chemical Activity Barometer Follows Global Markets Downward

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), dropped 0.3 percent in August, a marked deceleration of activity from second quarter performance. The declined follows a 0.1 percent gain in July and 0.5 percent gain in both May and June. Data is measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA). Accounting for adjustments, the CAB remains up 1.8 percent over this time last year, also a deceleration of annual growth as compared to this time last year when the barometer logged a 4.2 percent annual gain over 2013.
...
“Chemical, other equity, and product prices all suffered greatly in our latest reading of the Chemical Activity Barometer,” said ACC Chief Economist Kevin Swift. “There continued to be upward momentum in plastic resins for both consumer applications and light vehicles, but we also continue to see declines in oilfield chemicals and U.S. exports overall, largely as a result of softer oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar,” Swift said. Despite these modest headwinds, the Chemical Activity Barometer is still signaling slow gains in business activity into the early part of 2016.

by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2015 03:04:00 PM

The year-over-year increase in prices is mostly moving sideways now at between 4% and 5%.. In October 2013, the National index was up 10.9% year-over-year (YoY). In June 2015, the index was up 4.5% YoY.

Here is the YoY change since January 2014 for the National Index:

Month	YoY Change
Jan-14	10.5%
Feb-14	10.2%
Mar-14	8.9%
Apr-14	7.9%
May-14	7.0%
Jun-14	6.3%
Jul-14	5.6%
Aug-14	5.1%
Sep-14	4.8%
Oct-14	4.6%
Nov-14	4.6%
Dec-14	4.6%
Jan-15	4.4%
Feb-15	4.3%
Mar-15	4.2%
Apr-15	4.3%
May-15	4.4%
Jun-15	4.5%

Most of the slowdown on a YoY basis is now behind us. This slowdown in price increases was expected by several key analysts, and I think it is good news for housing and the economy.

In the earlier post, I graphed nominal house prices, but it is also important to look at prices in real terms (inflation adjusted).  Case-Shiller, CoreLogic and others report nominal house prices.  As an example, if a house price was $200,000 in January 2000, the price would be close to $276,000 today adjusted for inflation (38%).  That is why the second graph below is important - this shows "real" prices (adjusted for inflation).

It has been almost ten years since the bubble peak.  In the Case-Shiller release this morning, the National Index was reported as being 7.5% below the bubble peak.   However, in real terms, the National index is still about 21% below the bubble peak.

Nominal House Prices

The first graph shows the monthly Case-Shiller National Index SA, the monthly Case-Shiller Composite 20 SA, and the CoreLogic House Price Indexes (through June) in nominal terms as reported.

In nominal terms, the Case-Shiller National index (SA) is back to June 2005 levels, and the Case-Shiller Composite 20 Index (SA) is back to February 2005 levels, and the CoreLogic index (NSA) is back to June 2005.

Real House Prices

The second graph shows the same three indexes in real terms (adjusted for inflation using CPI less Shelter). Note: some people use other inflation measures to adjust for real prices.

In real terms, the National index is back to May 2003 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to April 2003, and the CoreLogic index back to October 2003.

In real terms, house prices are back to 2003 levels.

Note: CPI less Shelter is down 1.1% year-over-year, so this is pushing up real prices.

Price-to-Rent

In October 2004, Fed economist John Krainer and researcher Chishen Wei wrote a Fed letter on price to rent ratios: House Prices and Fundamental Value. Kainer and Wei presented a price-to-rent ratio using the OFHEO house price index and the Owners' Equivalent Rent (OER) from the BLS.

Here is a similar graph using the Case-Shiller National, Composite 20 and CoreLogic House Price Indexes.

This graph shows the price to rent ratio (January 1998 = 1.0).

On a price-to-rent basis, the Case-Shiller National index is back to April 2003 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2003 levels, and the CoreLogic index is back to October 2003.

In real terms, and as a price-to-rent ratio, prices are back to 2003 levels - and the price-to-rent ratio maybe moving a little sideways now.

by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2015 12:27:00 PM

The new home sales report for July was slightly below expectations and there were also minor downward revisions to prior months.  However sales are still up solidly for 2015 compared to 2014.

Earlier: New Home Sales increased to 507,000 Annual Rate in July.

The Census Bureau reported that new home sales this year, through July, were 316,000, not seasonally adjusted (NSA). That is up 21.2% from 260,000 sales during the same period of 2014 (NSA). That is a strong year-over-year gain for the first seven months of 2015!

Sales were up 25.8% year-over-year in July.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows new home sales for 2014 and 2015 by month (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).

The year-over-year gain was strong through July (the first seven months were especially weak in 2014), however I expect the year-over-year increases to slow over the remaining months - but the overall year-over-year gain should be solid in 2015.

And here is another update to the "distressing gap" graph that I first started posting a number of years ago to show the emerging gap caused by distressed sales.  Now I'm looking for the gap to close over the next several years.

The "distressing gap" graph shows existing home sales (left axis) and new home sales (right axis) through July 2015. This graph starts in 1994, but the relationship has been fairly steady back to the '60s.

Following the housing bubble and bust, the "distressing gap" appeared mostly because of distressed sales.

I expect existing home sales to mostly move sideways over the next few years (distressed sales will continue to decline and be offset by more conventional / equity sales).  And I expect this gap to slowly close, mostly from an increase in new home sales.

Note: Existing home sales are counted when transactions are closed, and new home sales are counted when contracts are signed. So the timing of sales is different.

by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2015 10:11:00 AM

The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 507 thousand.

The previous three months were revised down by a total of 12 thousand (SA).

"Sales of new single-family houses in July 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5.4 percent above the revised June rate of 481,000 and is 25.8 percent above the July 2014 estimate of 403,000."

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.

Even with the increase in sales since the bottom, new home sales are still close to the bottoms for previous recessions.

The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply.

The months of supply decreased in July to 5.3 months.

The all time record was 12.1 months of supply in January 2009.

This is now in the normal range (less than 6 months supply is normal).

"The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 218,000. This represents a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales rate."

On inventory, according to the Census Bureau:

"A house is considered for sale when a permit to build has been issued in permit-issuing places or work has begun on the footings or foundation in nonpermit areas and a sales contract has not been signed nor a deposit accepted."

Starting in 1973 the Census Bureau broke this down into three categories: Not Started, Under Construction, and Completed.

The third graph shows the three categories of inventory starting in 1973.

The inventory of completed homes for sale is still low, and the combined total of completed and under construction is also low.

The last graph shows sales NSA (monthly sales, not seasonally adjusted annual rate).

In July 2015 (red column), 43 thousand new homes were sold (NSA). Last year 35 thousand homes were sold in July.  This is the highest for July since 2008.

The all time high for July was 117 thousand in 2005, and the all time low for July was 26 thousand in 2010.

This was below expectations of 516,000 sales in July, however new home sales are still on pace for solid growth in 2015.  I'll have more later today.

by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2015 09:15:00 AM

S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for June ("June" is a 3 month average of April, May and June prices).

This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.

Note: Case-Shiller reports Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), I use the SA data for the graphs.

From S&P: Home Prices Continue Upward Trend According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a slightly higher year-over-year gain with a 4.5% annual increase in June 2015 versus a 4.4% increase in May 2015. The 10-City Composite had marginally lower year-over-year gains, with an increase of 4.6% year-over-year. The 20-City Composite year-over-year pace was virtually unchanged from last month, rising 5.0% year-over-year.
...
Before seasonal adjustment, the National index and 20-City Composite both reported gains of 1.0% month-over-month in June. The 10-City Composite posted a gain of 0.9% month-over-month. After seasonal adjustment, the National index posted a gain of 0.1% while the 10-City and 20-City Composites were both down 0.1% month-over-month. All 20 cities reported increases in June before seasonal adjustment; after seasonal adjustment, nine were down, nine were up, and two were unchanged.
...
“Nationally, home prices continue to rise at a 4-5% annual rate, two to three times the rate of inflation,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The Composite 10 index is off 14.6% from the peak, and down 0.2% in June (SA).

The Composite 20 index is off 13.3% from the peak, and down 0.1% (SA) in June.

The National index is off 7.5% from the peak, and up 0.1% (SA) in June.  The National index is up 25.0% from the post-bubble low set in December 2011 (SA).

The second graph shows the Year over year change in all three indices.

The Composite 10 SA is up 4.6% compared to June 2014.

The Composite 20 SA is up 5.0% year-over-year..

The National index SA is up 4.5% year-over-year.

Prices increased (SA) in 10 of the 20 Case-Shiller cities in June seasonally adjusted.  (Prices increased in 20 of the 20 cities NSA)  Prices in Las Vegas are off 39.5% from the peak, and prices in Denver and Dallas are at new highs (SA).

The last graph shows the bubble peak, the post bubble minimum, and current nominal prices relative to January 2000 prices for all the Case-Shiller cities in nominal terms.

As an example, at the peak, prices in Phoenix were 127% above the January 2000 level. Then prices in Phoenix fell slightly below the January 2000 level, and are now up 51% above January 2000 (51% nominal gain in 15 years).

These are nominal prices, and real prices (adjusted for inflation) are up about 40% since January 2000 - so the increase in Phoenix from January 2000 until now is about 11% above the change in overall prices due to inflation.

Two cities - Denver (up 67% since Jan 2000) and Dallas (up 48% since Jan 2000) - are above the bubble highs (a few other Case-Shiller Comp 20 city are close - Boston, Charlotte, San Francisco, Portland).    Detroit prices are barely above the January 2000 level.

This was close to the consensus forecast. I'll have more on house prices later.

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 ...