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"While the spring selling season was softer than anticipated by us and the investor community, the homebuilding recovery continued its progression at a slow and steady pace. The fundamentals of the homebuilding industry remain strong driven by high affordability levels, favorable monthly payment comparisons to rentals and overall supply shortages. Demand in most of our markets continues to outpace supply, which is constrained by limited land availability."
Net Home Orders, 3 Months Ending: | 5/31/2014 | 5/31/2013 | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Lennar | 6,183 | 5,705 | 8.4% |
KB Home | 2,269 | 2,162 | 4.9% |
Hovnanian | 1,799 | 1,862 | -3.4% |
Total | 10,251 | 9,729 | 5.4% |
Home price numbers tend to move in more steady, gradual waves than other economic data. They also come out with long delays; the April Case-Shiller numbers are actually based on transactions that closed from February through April — and those home sales generally went under contract a month or two before they closed.
So the latest home price readings are very much a look in the rearview mirror, and it’s a look that suggests a deceleration is underway. ... The healthiest thing for the housing market would be home price rises that thread the needle: high enough that homeowners are building equity and homebuilders have incentive to start new construction, but low enough that they don’t significantly outpace wage growth and result in unaffordable housing and a painful correction. The April home price numbers suggest we may be heading there.
Why do price change distributions have peaked centers and very elongated tails? ... absent a clear economic rationale for this unusual distribution, it presents a measurement problem and an immediate remedy. The problem is that these long tails tend to cause the CPI (and other weighted averages of prices) to fluctuate pretty widely from month to month, but they are, in a statistical sense, tethered to that large proportion of price changes that lie in the center of the distribution.
... The median CPI is immune to the obvious analyst bias that I had been guilty of, while greatly reducing the volatility in the monthly CPI report in a way that I thought gave the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland a clearer reading of the central tendency of price changes.
Cecchetti and I pushed the idea to a range of trimmed-mean estimators, for which the median is simply an extreme case. Trimmed-mean estimators trim some proportion of the tails from this price-change distribution and reaggregate the interior remainder. Others extended this idea to asymmetric trims for skewed price-change distributions, as Scott Roger did for New Zealand, and to other price statistics, like the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas's trimmed-mean PCE inflation rate.
How much one should trim from the tails isn't entirely obvious. We settled on the 16 percent trimmed mean for the CPI (that is, trimming the highest and lowest 8 percent from the tails of the CPI's price-change distribution) because this is the proportion that produced the smallest monthly volatility in the statistic while preserving the same trend as the all-items CPI.
Today, the Data and Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services (formerly the LPS Data & Analytics division) released its latest Home Price Index (HPI) report, based on February 2014 residential real estate transactions. ... The Black Knight HPI represents the price of non-distressed sales by taking into account price discounts for REO and short sales.
Month | YoY House Price Increase |
---|---|
Jan-13 | 6.7% |
Feb-13 | 7.3% |
Mar-13 | 7.6% |
Apr-13 | 8.1% |
May-13 | 7.9% |
Jun-13 | 8.4% |
Jul-13 | 8.7% |
Aug-13 | 9.0% |
Sep-13 | 9.0% |
Oct-13 | 8.8% |
Nov-13 | 8.5% |
Dec-13 | 8.4% |
Jan-14 | 8.0% |
Feb-14 | 7.6% |
Mar-14 | 7.0% |
Apr-14 | 6.4% |
The fighting is mainly in the northern part of Iraq. Its main oil production and export facilities are in the south, where Shiites dominate. ... Most experts do not expect the Sunni rebels to invade the south, which accounts for about 90 percent of Iraq's oil production and exports.
...
Prices typically fall in June, when refineries are revved up and ready to go but families still have kids in school. They go up again in July and August, when vacationers take to the roads. ... This June, prices have been mostly steady, which amounts to a stealth increase.
...
U.S. production has gone from about 5.5 million barrels a day to almost 8.5 million in the past three years, and could hit 10 million within a few years ... reduced reliance on Mideast oil is blunting the impact of the Iraq conflict.
One of the great ironies this year is that even as growth has disappointed to the downside, inflation has surprised to the upside. Most important, in the past three months, core CPI inflation has risen at the fastest rate since before the crisis. Moreover, the pick-up is fairly broad-based. Both goods and services inflation is higher and there appear to be only a couple anomalies—strong apparel price inflation and a huge 41.6% annualized jump in airfares.
Despite the strong numbers, we are reluctant to make significant changes in our inflation call. ... we have incorporated the spring surprises and have raised our sequential forecasts slightly, but that only raises our annual numbers by a few tenths. Why the limited response? To put it simply, the fundamentals don’t support a strong sustained increase. Let’s take a look at the main inflation stories.
Reserved money growth
Since the beginning of the economic recovery, monetarists have argued that with the Fed’s massive balance sheet strong inflation could be just around the corner. Our response has always been: reserves are not money, and unless those reserves stimulate a surge in bank lending and spending, they are not inflationary. ... even with the recent pick up in business lending, overall bank lending is still growing at half the normal pace of a business expansion. ...
Medical mal-pricing?
Another key inflation concern is that special factors have temporarily held inflation in check and are now reversing. There seems to be an element of this in medical inflation. Inflation dipped last year as government payment rates were reduced and as key drugs became generic. Thus the medical PCE price index fell 0.45% in April 2013 and then rose 0.20% this April. That swing alone added more than a tenth to year-over-year core PCE inflation. However, we are reluctant to extrapolate the recent strength going forward. ...
It’s a small world after all
In our view, one of the most underrated factors in recent inflation movements is the impact of global markets. ... In recent months, there have been some signs of a bottoming out of consumer import prices. However, a significant acceleration seems unlikely. The conditions that created the low inflation are still in place: emerging market growth remains low, there is abundant spare capacity in the global economy, the dollar is trending higher and Europe is at risk of sliding into deflation. The main upside risk comes from commodity prices, but usually that takes some time to develop.
Weak wages
While there is a lot of talk about higher wage growth, there is very little evidence. .... In our view, there is still some slack in the labor market; when slack disappears, the rise in wage growth will be very slow, and as Yellen made clear at the press conference, the Fed will welcome the initial rise in wage inflation as a sign of normalization rather than inflation.
... Put it all together, we continue to expect a slow rise in inflation, allowing an equally slow Fed exit.
Editor’s Note: According to Colin Cram, when it comes to outsourcing, the UK government is getting exactly what it deserves.
Originally posted on Procurement Insights EU Edition:
Public sector outsourcing continues to receive a poor press, the latest being the lengthy delays for payment of Personal Independence Payments. http://ift.tt/1oAWxXJ However, outsourcing will not go away, as the recent announcement of a back-office services framework agreement to be let by the Crown Commercial Service for public sector organisations, illustrates. http://ift.tt/1oAWwDi http://ift.tt/1vAKyt3
Ministers and civil servants naturally blame the outsourcers for problems and one senior civil servant took great exception 3 months ago when I dared to suggest that the UK public sector gets what it deserves. This deliberately over-stated the case to make a point, as there is no excuse for fraud and little excuse for incompetence. However, incompetence exists on both sides, such as the failure coherently to manage common suppliers, something that is gradually being remedied through the Crown Commercial Service.
The initial decision of whether or not to outsource is critical and is when things…
View original 425 more words
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that growth in economic activity has rebounded in recent months. Labor market indicators generally showed further improvement. The unemployment rate, though lower, remains elevated. Household spending appears to be rising moderately and business fixed investment resumed its advance, while the recovery in the housing sector remained slow. Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth, although the extent of restraint is diminishing. Inflation has been running below the Committee's longer-run objective, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects that, with appropriate policy accommodation, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions will continue to improve gradually, moving toward those the Committee judges consistent with its dual mandate. The Committee sees the risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as nearly balanced. The Committee recognizes that inflation persistently below its 2 percent objective could pose risks to economic performance, and it is monitoring inflation developments carefully for evidence that inflation will move back toward its objective over the medium term.
The Committee currently judges that there is sufficient underlying strength in the broader economy to support ongoing improvement in labor market conditions. In light of the cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions since the inception of the current asset purchase program, the Committee decided to make a further measured reduction in the pace of its asset purchases. Beginning in July, the Committee will add to its holdings of agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $15 billion per month rather than $20 billion per month, and will add to its holdings of longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $20 billion per month rather than $25 billion per month. The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. The Committee's sizable and still-increasing holdings of longer-term securities should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative, which in turn should promote a stronger economic recovery and help to ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with the Committee's dual mandate.
The Committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments in coming months and will continue its purchases of Treasury and agency mortgage-backed securities, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate, until the outlook for the labor market has improved substantially in a context of price stability. If incoming information broadly supports the Committee's expectation of ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and inflation moving back toward its longer-run objective, the Committee will likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings. However, asset purchases are not on a preset course, and the Committee's decisions about their pace will remain contingent on the Committee's outlook for the labor market and inflation as well as its assessment of the likely efficacy and costs of such purchases.
To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee today reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate. In determining how long to maintain the current 0 to 1/4 percent target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will assess progress--both realized and expected--toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial developments. The Committee continues to anticipate, based on its assessment of these factors, that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends, especially if projected inflation continues to run below the Committee's 2 percent longer-run goal, and provided that longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored.
When the Committee decides to begin to remove policy accommodation, it will take a balanced approach consistent with its longer-run goals of maximum employment and inflation of 2 percent. The Committee currently anticipates that, even after employment and inflation are near mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping the target federal funds rate below levels the Committee views as normal in the longer run.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Janet L. Yellen, Chair; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Lael Brainard; Stanley Fischer; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Loretta J. Mester; Charles I. Plosser; Jerome H. Powell; and Daniel K. Tarullo.
emphasis added
Inflation has been running below the Committee's longer-run objective, but longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
The Committee recognizes that inflation persistently below its 2 percent objective could pose risks to economic performance, and it is monitoring inflation developments carefully for evidence that inflation will move back toward its objective over the medium term.
If incoming information broadly supports the Committee's expectation of ongoing improvement in labor market conditions and inflation moving back toward its longer-run objective, the Committee will likely reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings.
Editor’s Note: According to Colin Cram, when it comes to outsourcing, the UK government is getting exactly what it deserves.
Originally posted on Procurement Insights EU Edition:
Public sector outsourcing continues to receive a poor press, the latest being the lengthy delays for payment of Personal Independence Payments. http://ift.tt/1oAWxXJ However, outsourcing will not go away, as the recent announcement of a back-office services framework agreement to be let by the Crown Commercial Service for public sector organisations, illustrates. http://ift.tt/1oAWwDi http://ift.tt/1vAKyt3
Ministers and civil servants naturally blame the outsourcers for problems and one senior civil servant took great exception 3 months ago when I dared to suggest that the UK public sector gets what it deserves. This deliberately over-stated the case to make a point, as there is no excuse for fraud and little excuse for incompetence. However, incompetence exists on both sides, such as the failure coherently to manage common suppliers, something that is gradually being remedied through the Crown Commercial Service.
The initial decision of whether or not to outsource is critical and is when things…
View original 425 more words
If starts or sales are up at least 20% YoY in any month in 2014, [NDD] will make a $100 donation to the charity of Bill's choice, which he has designated as the Memorial Fund in honor of his late co-blogger, Tanta. If housing permits or starts are down 100,000 YoY at least once in 2014, he make a $100 donation to the charity of my choice, which is the Alzheimer's Association.
True, mortgage rates are low—as low as they’ve been in almost 12 months. But in the same way that shoppers may not be lured by “low prices” at a department store that is always advertising a sale, mortgage rates at 4.1% may not be seen as a steal by buyers who lived with rates that were even lower for all of 2012 and the first half of 2013—especially considering that prices have moved higher.
Asking home prices rose at their slowest rate in 13 months, rising just 8.0% year-over-year (7.2% excluding foreclosures). Although this year-over-year increase is slower than in previous months, an 8.0% increase is still far above the long-term historical norm for home-price appreciation. Furthermore, prices continue to climb in the most recent quarter: the 2.4% quarter-over-quarter increase in May 2014 is equivalent to 9.9% on an annualized basis. Finally, price gains continue to be widespread, with 93 of the 100 largest metros clocking quarter-over-quarter price increases, seasonally adjusted.
Nationally, asking home prices are rising slower than in previous months, but the real change has been the price slowdown in the hyper-rebounding markets of the West. In May 2014, none of the 100 largest metros had a year-over-year price gain of more than 20%; the steepest increase was 18.8%, in Riverside-San Bernardino. Among the markets with the biggest price gains today, three – Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Oakland – have had significant slowdowns in year-over-year gains, from around 30% in May 2013 to around 15% in May 2014. In contrast, price gains accelerated dramatically in Chicago, up 13.5% year-over-year in May 2014 versus just 3.6% in May 2013. Overall, half of the top 10 markets with the largest price gains are outside the West, another big change from last year when almost all of the biggest price increases were in the West.
...
Rents are up 5.1% year-over-year nationally, with apartment rents up 5.8% and single-family rents up 2.1%.
emphasis added
“We do not believe the ECB can afford to do nothing this week after having intentionally raised hopes of further monetary easing. While the maximum impact from an ECB rate cut would come with a negative deposit rate and liquidity-boosting measures, […] there is no guarantee that negative rates alone would boost bank lending. However, credit easing measures are becoming increasingly likely, either indirectly, via LTRO, or directly, via private quantitative easing. Communication will be an important part of the June ‘package’. We expect ECB President Mario Draghi to leave the door open to unconventional action in case inflation fails to pick up by year-end.”
We expect the ECB to deliver a package of measures on 5 June to ease monetary policy. We expect a 10bp cut to all key interest rates, taking the refi rate down to 0.15%, the deposit rate negative for the first time to -0.10% and the marginal lending facility rate down to 0.65%. We also expect an extension of the forward guidance on liquidity provisions, with the fixed-rate full-allotment procedure extended by a further 12 months to at least the end of June 2016. We also expect the ECB to launch a targeted LTRO programme in June (60% probability), to address credit weakness and risks to the recovery from this channel.