By Michael Neal Following two consecutive monthly increases, single-family starts fell by 9.1 percent over the month of June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 858,000, according to a joint release by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, over the quarter, starts of single-family houses was about flat, rising by 1.2 percent to …

By Michael Neal The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, headline consumer prices, grew over the month of June, but at a slower pace than in May. The monthly slowdown partly reflected a decline in energy prices, electricity and utility (piped) gas specifically, although food prices accelerated over the month. Excluding energy and food …

By Michael Neal The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that mortgage rates on purchases of newly built homes rose by seven basis points over the month of May 2018 to 4.51 percent, marking the seventh consecutive monthly increase. However, information compiled by Freddie Mac suggests that mortgage rates may have taken a breather in June. Despite the two basis points …

By Michael Neal Sales of new single-family homes rose by 6.7 percent in May to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000 according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A downward revision to the sales pace in April, from 662,000 to 646,000, partly contributed to the increase …

By Michael Neal As was widely expected, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), the monetary policy making arm of the Federal Reserve, raised the target federal funds rate to a range of 1.75 percent to 2.00 percent from a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent. Going forward, the median projection of the federal funds rate at the end of …

By Michael Neal The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that consumer inflation rose by 0.2 percent in May, similar to its growth rate in April. Both food and energy prices decelerated over the month, but the slowdown in these items was offset by an acceleration in core CPI to 0.2 percent, from 0.1 percent in April. Over the year, …

By Michael Neal The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that mortgage rates on purchases of newly built homes continued to climb in April and additional evidence from Freddie Mac indicates that mortgage rates more generally rose in May as well. However, average mortgage rates have moderated over the first week of June. Mortgage rates reported by Freddie Mac are …

By Michael Neal The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that economic growth, measured by the annualized growth rate of real GDP, was revised to 2.2 percent from the advance estimate of 2.3 percent. The modest downward revision confirms the extent of economic growth over the first quarter of the year. The second estimate of first quarter GDP also included …