After the up and down in front of the change in regulations new purchase apps are, so far, lower than before: Fits with the permit spike/decline story, and there was also this note: The multi-family residential market was negative for the eighth consecutive month – and this might be indicating a slowdown for apartments – or at least less growth. Japan export growth slows sharply, raising fears of recession By Tetsushi KajimotoOct 21 (Reuters) — Japan’s annual export growth slowed for the...
Read More »Housing Starts, Redbook Sales
The spike in permits in front of the June 15 expiration of a NY tax break is running it’s course, as permits continue to fall. Starts follow permits and will soon be tapering off as well: Housing StartsHighlightsStarts, driven by a spike in multi-family units, came in much stronger than expected in September, news offset however by a significant decline in permits. Starts jumped 6.5 percent to a 1.206 million annual rate which is just outside Econoday’s high estimate. Multi-family starts...
Read More »Home Buyer Index, China GDP
Builders are expecting improvement, but seems actual buyers walking in the door remains depressed: Housing Market Index Sales expectations in the next six months rose 7 points to 75, while current sales conditions rose 3 points to 70. Buyer traffic, however, didn’t move, sitting at 47— the only component still in negative territory. Regionally, on a three-month moving average, the West registered a 5-point gain to 69, and the Northeast, Midwest and South each rose 1 point to 47, 60 and 65,...
Read More »Exports, Bank Revenues, Chips, Japan, Mtg Purchase Apps, Oil Comment
At U.S. Ports, Exports Are Coming Up Empty Oct 13 (WSJ) — In September, the Port of Long Beach Calif. handled 197,076 outbound empty boxes. September was the eighth straight month in which empty containers leaving Long Beach outnumbered those loaded with exports. Last month, however, Long Beach and the Port of Oakland both reported double-digit gains in exports of empty containers. So far this year, empties at the two ports are up more than 20% from a year earlier. Long Beach’s...
Read More »Lux GDP, Iowa, PC shipments, Lumber Prices, Oil Prices
Even Luxembourg peaked after oil prices collapsed: Ag slowdown imperils state revenue By Donnelle Eller Oct 12 (Des Moines Register) — Money coming into Iowa’s government coffers was flat the first quarter of this fiscal year, raising concern about how big an effect the slowing farm economy could have on the state budget. State revenues — income tax paid by workers and corporations, along with sales tax paid at malls, restaurants and bars, among other sources — hit $1.77...
Read More »Capex Cuts, Mtg Purchase Apps
Volkswagen to Pare, Delay Capital Investments Oct 6 (WSJ) — Volkswagen AG plans to slash an €86 billion ($96 billion) investment plan and step up cost-cutting as it grapples with fallout from its emissions scandal, Chief Executive Matthias Müllersaid on Tuesday. Global Oil to Cut Spending by $130 Billion, OPEC Says Germany : Industrial Production Highlights Industrial production was weaker than expected in August. A 1.2 percent monthly fall exactly reversed an upwardly revised gain...
Read More »Property, inequality and financial crises
At the end of my previous post, I posed the question: why did Latvia experience the deepest recession in the world in 2008-9?The first puzzle is that Latvia's banks were in no worse shape than anyone else's and better than some. Among small countries, Iceland, Ireland and (in 2013) Cyprus all experienced bigger banking collapses relative to the size of their economies than Latvia. Larger countries did too, notably Germany and the UK, both of which suffered widespread damage across their large...
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