Every week the Research staff analyzes key data releases and explain what they mean for you and your business. In this update, we give the highlights of the most important data releases for the week of April 18-April 22, 2011, along with graphs that show the latest movement and overall trends.
Highlights for Monday, April 18, 2011:
- The average annual inflation expectation in the U.S. over the next ten years remained relatively unchanged at 2.61%.
- Stronger inflation will put upward pressure on long term interest rates to increase. NAR is forecasting interest rates to increase to 5.6% by the end of 2011.
Highlights for Tuesday, April 19, 2011:
- Both the single-family and multi-family sectors improved growing 7.7% and 5.8%, respectively. Single family starts were 422,000 in March, roughly 74% lower than the 1.601 million starts recorded in March of 2006.
Highlights for Wednesday, April 20, 2011:
- The weekly data does not account for the rising number of cash buyers. According to the March REALTORS® Confidence Index, cash buyers accounted for 35 percent of transactions.
Highlights for Thursday, April 21, 2011:
- Assuming that jobless claims continue to trend down, NAR expects about 1.5 to 2 million net new jobs in the next 12 months.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index ( FHFA HPI) released today shows continued easing on housing prices, which declined 1.6 percent from January to February on a seasonally adjusted basis. The year-over-year change in February shows 5.7 percent decline.
- The FHFA index, however, only captures the purchase prices of houses bought with mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This figure excludes mortgages backed by the FHA, which accounted for roughly 15% of home sales in December. The FHFA’s index also does not include cash transactions, which were roughly 33% of sales in February according to NAR’s REALTORS® Confidence Index. The all-cash transactions also continue to grow due to tougher credit restrictions.
Friday, April 22, 2001:
- Positive data this week push the forecast up slightly, but markets take a holiday today, so no new data is released.
- This makes today a perfect day to look into some of our more in-depth articles:
- In Real Estate Insights you’ll find articles on Housing Demand, Foreclosures, and Technology.
- Find local information in our Local Market Reports and find a video on how to use them on our blog.
- Review recent home price information in NAR’s Home Price Monitor in anticipation of next week’s updated report on home prices.