Comments Off
The Wall Street Journal
CoreLogic reported that home prices in October declined by 1.3 percent from September and by 3.9 percent from one year ago. A separate index by LPS Applied Analytics showed that home prices in September had dropped by 1.2 percent from August.
Read the full story
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/12/06/why-home-prices-are-and-arent-stabilizing/
Comments Off
A gauge of home prices featuring 20 major cities, the S&P Case Shiller Index, reported Tuesday that prices rose 0.2 percent in August, but were still down 3.8 percent year over year.
Read the full story
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/25/real_estate/home_prices/index.htm?iid=HP_River
Comments Off
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declined 1.2 percent to 88.6 in August from 89.7 in July, but is 7.7 percent above August 2010. The Index is a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings. The data reflects contracts, but not closings.
The PHSI in the Northeast fell 5.8 percent to 63.6 in August, but is 1.3 percent higher than August 2010. In the Midwest, the index declined 3.7 percent to 76.2 in August, but is 8.2 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 2.6 percent to an index of 96.9 and are 7.6 percent higher than August 2010. In the West, which includes California, the index declined 2.4 percent to 108.1 in August but is 10.5 percent above a year ago.
“We continue to experience a pattern in which financially qualified home buyers, willing to stay well within their means, are being denied credit – a factor in elevated levels of contract failures,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. “Based on the improving fundamentals of population growth, some job additions, rent increases and higher stock market wealth, we should be seeing existing-home sales closer to 5.5 million, but are expecting just over 4.9 million this year. The unnecessarily restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are attenuating the housing recovery and are a risk factor for the overall economy.”
More info
Comments Off
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined sharply in August, remained essentially unchanged in September. The Index now stands at 45.4 (1985=100), up slightly from 45.2 in August. The Present Situation Index decreased to 32.5 from 34.3. The Expectations Index edged up to 54.0 from 52.4 last month.
Consumers’ assessment of current conditions weakened further in September, with those claiming business conditions are “good” decreasing to 11.7 percent from 14.1 percent, and those claiming business conditions are “bad” remaining virtually unchanged at 40.4 percent.
Consumers were slightly less pessimistic about the outlook for the job market. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead rose 12 percent from 11.8 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs declined to 28.6 percent from 31.2 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes, however, declined to 13.3 percent from 14.3 percent.
