Market Comment
Mortgage bond prices finished the week higher, which pushed rates lower. Trading was volatile amid mixed data. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in May and the core rose 0.1%. Analysts expected CPI to rise 0.5% and the core to rise 0.2%. This was rate friendly. Philadelphia Fed was 15.2 versus the expected 8 reading. The NAHB Housing Market Index printed above expectations at 59 versus the expected 56 mark. This was not rate friendly. Rates improved in response to the Fed meeting in which the Fed indicated, “The U.S. economy hit a soft patch earlier this year.” Mortgage interest rates finished the week better by about 3/8 to 1/2 of a discount point. LOOKING AHEAD
New Home Sales New Home Sales data is compiled monthly by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and is gathered from builders throughout the country. The data represents new home sales for the nation as well as four areas of the country: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West. Information on the average price of a home, the number of homes for sale, and the supply of unsold homes are also provided. The data is an important indicator because it shows any strength or weakness in the housing sector. The housing sector data is valuable because when consumer spending changes, it appears in this sector first. Consequently, a chain reaction typically occurs. A slowdown in new home sales tends to lead to a slowdown in housing starts, which will continue to affect other indicators possibly continuing the economic worries, as has been the recent concern of most everyone. New Home Sales data is often volatile and difficult to predict. Most analysts look at a three-month average in order to see any trends in the growth rate. The data remains significant in showing the condition of housing.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-
Recent Posts
-
Recent Comments
-
Archives
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- June 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013
-
Categories
-
Meta