by Calculated Risk on 6/10/2025 08:23:00 AM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-June 2025

A brief excerpt:

Yesterday, in Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-June 2025 I reviewed home inventory, housing starts and sales. I noted that the key story right now for existing homes is that inventory is increasing sharply, and sales are essentially flat compared to last year. That means prices will be under pressure (although there will not be a huge wave of distressed sales). And there are significant regional differences too.

In Part 2, I will look at house prices, mortgage rates, rents and more.
...
The Case-Shiller National Index increased 3.4% year-over-year (YoY) in March and will likely be lower year-over-year in the April report compared to March (based on other data).
...
The MoM decrease in the seasonally adjusted (SA) Case-Shiller National Index was at -0.30% (a -3.5% annual rate). This was the first MoM decrease since January 2023.

There is much more in the article.

by Calculated Risk on 6/09/2025 08:07:00 PM

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates a Hair Lower to Start The Week

As hoped, Friday's big rate spike did not carry additional momentum into the new week. This is occasionally a risk when rates are responding to big surprise in the jobs report, but slightly less of a risk when the other economic data had been weaker. [30 year fixed 6.95%]
emphasis added

Tuesday:
• At 6:00 AM ET, NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for April.

by Calculated Risk on 6/09/2025 04:12:00 PM

The ICE Home Price Index (HPI) is a repeat sales index. ICE reports the median price change of the repeat sales.

From ICE (Intercontinental Exchange):

• Recent data shows home price growth continued to cool, dropping to an annual growth rate of +1.4%, down from an already low +1.6% mid-month.

• On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices fell by -0.01% in the month – the first decline in this metric since 2022.

• In fact, if you back out outliers, such as the Fed rate hikes in 2022 and the COVID shutdown in 2020, this is the first time we’ve seen home prices decline, on an adjusted basis, in any month since 2012.

• Condos were the first to turn, with condo prices now down nearly a full percentage point from the same time last year. Single family residences, on the other hand, are still up a modest +1.7%.

Almost a third (30%) of all major home sales markets have seen prices fall by at least a full percentage point, with 20% falling by 2% and seven markets (Austin, Cape Coral, North Port, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Boise City) falling by more than 5%.

The largest drops from the peak in 2022 have been in Austin (-19.2%), Cape Coral (-12.1%), North Port, Fla. (-10.2%) and San Francisco (-8.3%)

Why is this happening?

Mortgage rates have ticked higher in the wake of recent tariff and government spending announcements, which increased inflationary concerns and decreased the number of Fed rate cuts expected by the market in 2025. Higher rates and moderated demand are allowing inventory levels to build, especially in the western U.S. with 40% of markets now seeing more homes for sale than they averaged from 2017-2019 and another 10% on pace for inventory to ‘normalize’ by the end of the year. Denver now has twice as many homes for sale as it did in the years leading up to the pandemic, with California’s 10 largest markets seeing 40-75% more homes available for sale than at the same time last year.

Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research for ICE, says:

“We continue to see an inflection in the housing market as home-price softening expands beyond the Sunbelt into the West. With inventory levels beginning to normalize across much of the country, prospective homebuyers are finally beginning to see some long-anticipated price relief.”

As ICE mentioned, cities in the South have been leading the way in inventory increases and price declines (especially Florida and Texas). Now the West Coast markets are following.

by Calculated Risk on 6/09/2025 01:49:00 PM

Early in February, I expressed my "increasing concern" about the negative economic impact of "executive / fiscal policy errors", however, I concluded that post by noting that I was not currently on recession watch.

In early April, I went on recession watch, but I'm still not yet predicting a recession for several reasons: the U.S. economy is very resilient and was on solid footing at the beginning of the year, the administration might reverse many of the tariffs (we've seen that before), and Congress might place some checks on the executive branch.  Also, perhaps the tariffs are not enough to topple the economy.

Last month Warren Buffett said:

"We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world, and we should do what we do best, and they should do what they do best ... Trade should not be a weapon.”

In the short term, it is mostly trade policy that will negatively impact the economy.  However, there other aspects of policy that bear watching.

Here is some of the data I'm watching.  

Housing:  Housing is the basis of one of my favorite models for business cycle forecasting.

This graph shows the YoY change in New Home Sales from the Census Bureau.  Currently new home sales (based on 3-month average of NSA data) are up 3% year-over-year.

Usually when the YoY change in New Home Sales falls about 20%, a recession will follow.  An exception for this data series was the mid '60s when the Vietnam buildup kept the economy out of recession.   Another exception was in late 2021 - we saw a significant YoY decline in new home sales related to the pandemic and the surge in new home sales in the second half of 2020.  I ignored that downturn as a pandemic distortion.  Also note that the sharp decline in 2010 was related to the housing tax credit policy in 2009 - and was just a continuation of the housing bust.

The YoY change in new home sales in late 2022 and early 2023 suggested a possible recession.  But as I noted earlier, I was able to look past the pandemic distortion and was able to predict a pickup in new home sales due to the low level of existing home inventory and because homebuilders could offer mortgage incentives that would somewhat offset the sharp increase in mortgage rates.

There are no special circumstances now, and if this measure falls to off 20% a recession seems likely.

Yield Curve: The yield curve is a commonly used leading indicator.  I dismissed it when the yield curve inverted in 2019 and again in 2022. Both times dismissing the yield curve was correct (the recession in 2020 was obviously due to the pandemic, so we will never know if the yield curve failed to predict a recession in 2019).

Here is a graph of 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity from FRED since 1976.

 

The yield curve reverted to normal last year and is currently positive at 0.47.  If this inverts, this might suggest a recession is coming.

Click here for interactive graph at FRED.

Heavy Truck (and Vehicle Sales): Another indicator I like to use is heavy truck sales.  This graph shows heavy truck sales since 1967 using data from the BEA. The dashed line is the May 2025 seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR). Note: "Heavy trucks - trucks more than 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight."

Heavy truck sales were at 446 thousand SAAR in May, down from 457 thousand in April, and down 7.9% from 484 thousand SAAR in May 2024. 

Usually, heavy truck sales decline sharply prior to a recession and sales were OK in May.  

And light vehicle sales were ok in May after surging in March and April as buyers rushed to beat the tariffs.

This graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967.   This is more of a concurrent indicator than heavy trucks. 

Light vehicle sales in May (15.65 million SAAR) were down 9.4% from April, and down 1.1% from May 2024.

Unemployment: Two other concurrent indicators are the unemployment rate (using the "Sahm Rule") and weekly unemployment claims.

Here is a graph of the Sahm rule from FRED since 1959.

The Sahm Rule was at 0.27 in May. 

 If this increases to 0.5 it will suggest a possible recession.

And weekly unemployment claims always rise sharply at the beginning of a recession (other events - like hurricane Katrina - can cause a temporary spike in weekly claims).

As I noted earlier, I'm not sure how to estimate the economic damage caused by these tariffs. And they might just go away (no one knows).  There are also boycotts of U.S. goods and less international tourism based on both the tariffs and the inflammatory rhetoric of the current administration.  

None of these indicators are suggesting a recession.  For now, I'll focus on the leading indicators (especially housing) and I'll update this post monthly while I'm on recession watch.  

by Calculated Risk on 6/09/2025 10:25:00 AM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-June 2025

A brief excerpt:

This 2-part overview for mid-June provides a snapshot of the current housing market.

First, a quote from Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley Jr.:

“The spring selling season, which is really a winter selling season, is when most new homes are sold in this country. It's mid January until the end of April, and the reason for that is most people want to move into their new home for the next school year. So you [homebuilders] better get [the buyer] under contract and get it going in February, March, April, to have it completed by the school year. That's what provides for our business. And this was not a good spring.
emphasis added”

It was not a “good Spring” for new homebuilders, but it wasn’t horrible. However, homebuilders have a growing number of completed homes for sales, a larger than normal number of unsold homes under construction and are competing with more existing home inventory.

And the key stories for existing homes are that inventory is increasing sharply, and sales are essentially flat compared to last year (and sales in 2024 were the lowest since 1995). That means prices will be under pressure ...

Realtor.com reports in the May 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report that new listings were up 7.2% year-over-year in May. And active listings were up 31.5% year-over-year.

Homebuyers found more options in May, as the number of actively listed homes rose 31.5% compared to the same time last year. This builds on April’s 30.6% increase and marks the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year inventory gains. The number of homes for sale topped 1 million for the first time since Winter 2019 and exceeded 2020 levels for the second month in a row, a key pandemic recovery benchmark. Still, inventory remains 14.4% below typical 2017–2019 levels, though May’s gains indicate the market is closing the gap at an accelerating pace.

There is much more in the article.

by Calculated Risk on 6/09/2025 08:11:00 AM

Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 0.6% week-over-week.

Inventory is now up 29.5% from the seasonal bottom in January and is increasing.  

Usually, inventory is up about 17% from the seasonal low by this week in the year.   So, 2025 is seeing a larger than normal pickup in inventory.

The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.

Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2025.  The black line is for 2019.  

Inventory was up 32.2% compared to the same week in 2024 (last week it was up 32.8%), and down 13.0% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 14.6%). 

This is the highest level since 2019.

It now appears inventory will be close to 2019 levels towards the end of 2025.

This second inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research.

As of June 6th, inventory was at 809 thousand (7-day average), compared to 804 thousand the prior week. 

Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube

by Calculated Risk on 6/08/2025 06:36:00 PM

Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of June 8, 2025

Monday:
• No major economic releases scheduled.

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures S&P 500 are down 7 and DOW futures are down 35 (fair value).

Oil prices were up over the last week with WTI futures at $64.58 per barrel and Brent at $66.47 per barrel. A year ago, WTI was at $77, and Brent was at $78 - so WTI oil prices are down about 16% year-over-year.

Here is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are at $3.08 per gallon. A year ago, prices were at $3.40 per gallon, so gasoline prices are down $0.32 year-over-year.

by Calculated Risk on 6/08/2025 08:07:00 AM

From Dodge Data Analytics: Dodge Momentum Index Increases 4% in May

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, grew 3.7% in May to 211.2 (2000=100) from the downwardly revised April reading of 203.5. Over the month, commercial planning grew 0.8% while institutional planning improved 10.5%.

“Nonresidential planning continued to accelerate in May, primarily driven by strong project activity on the institutional side of the DMI,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “Planning momentum moderately improved on the commercial side as well, following subdued growth in that sector over the last few months – outside of data centers. Increased economic and policy uncertainty will continue to contribute to heightened volatility in the project data - but in aggregate, planning activity is on steady footing.”

After a very strong April, data center projects returned to more typical levels in May and constrained overall commercial planning. Without data center projects, the commercial portion of the DMI would have improved 5% and the entire DMI would have grown 7% over the month. Accelerated warehouse and hotel planning drove the commercial portion of the Index, while office and retail planning remained flat. On the institutional side, a strong uptick in education and recreational projects drove this month’s gains, partially offset by a mild slowdown in healthcare planning.

In May, the DMI was up 24% when compared to year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 15% from May 2024, and the institutional segment was up 47% after a weak May last year. If all data center projects between 2023 and 2025 are excluded, commercial planning would be up 4% from year-ago levels and the entire DMI would be up 17%.
...
The DMI is a monthly measure of the value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the Dodge Momentum Index since 2002. The index was at 211.2 in May, up from 203.5 the previous month.

According to Dodge, this index leads "construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year".  This index suggests a pickup in mid-2025, however, uncertainty might impact these projects.  

Commercial construction is typically a lagging economic indicator.

by Calculated Risk on 6/07/2025 02:11:00 PM

At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:

Click on graph for larger image.

• Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rates Decreased in April

• Q1 Update: Delinquencies, Foreclosures and REO

• 1st Look at Local Housing Markets in May

• June ICE Mortgage Monitor: Home Prices Continue to Cool

• Asking Rents Mostly Unchanged Year-over-year

This is usually published 4 to 6 times a week and provides more in-depth analysis of the housing market.

by Calculated Risk on 6/07/2025 08:11:00 AM

The key report this week is May CPI.

----- Monday, June 9th -----
No major economic releases scheduled.

----- Tuesday, June 10th -----
6:00 AM ET: NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for April.

----- Wednesday, June 11th -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:30 AM: The Consumer Price Index for May from the BLS. The consensus is for 0.2% increase in CPI (up 2.5% YoY), and a 0.3% increase in core CPI (up 2.9% YoY).

----- Thursday, June 12th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for initial claims of 239 thousand, up from 247 thousand last week.

8:30 AM: The Producer Price Index for May from the BLS. The consensus is for a 0.2% increase in PPI, and a 0.3% increase in core PPI.

12:00 PM: Q1 Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States from the Federal Reserve.

----- Friday, June 13th -----
10:00 AM: University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Preliminary for June).