by Calculated Risk on 3/16/2024 08:11:00 AM

The key reports this week are February Housing Starts and Existing Home Sales.

The FOMC meets this week, and no change to policy is expected.

----- Monday, March 18th -----
10:00 AM: The March NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of 48, unchanged from 48.  Any number below 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good.

----- Tuesday, March 19th -----
8:30 AM: Housing Starts for February.

This graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.

The consensus is for 1.435 million SAAR, up from 1.331 million SAAR.

----- Wednesday, March 20th -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

During the day: The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for February (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

2:00 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. No change to policy is expected at this meeting.

2:00 PM: FOMC Projections. This will include the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants' projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate along with updated economic projections.

2:30 PM: Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement.

----- Thursday, March 21st -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 212 thousand initial claims, up from 209 thousand last week.

8:30 AM: the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for March. The consensus is for a reading of -2.5, down from 5.2.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for February from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 3.94 million SAAR, down from 4.00 million.

The graph shows existing home sales from 1994 through the report last month.

Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report sales of 4.40 million SAAR for February (well above consensus).

----- Friday, March 22nd -----
10:00 AM: State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for February 2024