Existing Home Sales

September 21, 2023 . Existing home sales declined 0.7% in July to 4,040 thousand after falling 2.2% in July.  Home sales are being curtailed by limited supply and an unwillingness of current homeowners to put their homes on the market because they would be forced to...

Housing Starts

September 19, 2023 Housing starts plunged by 11.3% in August to 1,283 thousand after having risen 2.0% in July.  But given the sharp rise in building permits (see below) it is clear that starts will not remain at this depressed level for long.  Starts tend to be one...

Homebuilder Confidence

September 18, 2023 Homebuilder confidence fell 5 points in September to 45 after having declined 6 points in August.  This series hit bottom in December 2022 at 31. Rising mortgage rates which have climbed to the 7.2% mark has spooked builders. NAHB Chairman Alicia...

Construction Spending

September 9, 2023 Construction spending (the green bars above) rose 0.7% in July after climbing 0.6% in June.   In the past 12 months it has risen 5.5%.  As indicated  below, spending on the construction of single-family housing has begun to climb after a long period...

Pending Home Sales

Pending home sales rose 0.9% in July to 77.6 after climbing 0.4% in June.  The market for existing home sales have essentially been unchanged for the past five months.  Current homeowners are reluctant to put their homes on the market which would mean trading in their...

Case Shiller Index of Home Prices

August 29. 2023 The Case Shiller Index of Home Prices in 20 cities rose 0.9% in June after climbing 1.0% in May and 0.9% in April.  After a long period of rising rapidly, prices began to fall late last year but after declining for seven months they have once again...