by Calculated Risk on 7/24/2012 10:14:00 AM

• From the FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.8 Percent in May

U.S. house prices rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from April to May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. ... For the 12 months ending in May of 2012, U.S. prices rose 3.7 percent. The U.S. index is 17.0 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the May 2004 index level.

The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses with mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

This is GSE loans only, and these loans have performed better than the non-GSE loans.

• From the Richmond Fed: Manufacturing Activity Contracted in July; Manufacturers' Optimism Waned

The pullback in manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region deepened in July, after edging lower in June, according to the Richmond Fed's latest seasonally adjusted survey. The index of overall activity was pushed lower as shipments and new orders declined further into negative territory. Employment remained in positive territory, but grew at a pace below June's rate. Other indicators also suggested additional softness.
...
In July, the seasonally adjusted composite index of manufacturing activity — our broadest measure of manufacturing — fell sixteen points to −17 from June's reading of −1. Among the index's components, shipments declined twenty-three points to −23, new orders dropped eighteen points to end at −25, and the jobs index moved down seven points to 1.

• Comments from UPS (ht Brian):

Global trade is lagging GDP growth currently. Only 2nd time in last 10 years that this has happened. Think this is temporary.

They see US GDP growth at 1% in 2nd half ... ”we think current 2H econ forecasts are too high”

Non-US domestic volumes down 3.2%. Southern Europe had double digit declines

US outlook see rev up 1-2%, see B2B deteriorating further – weaker US outlook is primary driver behind reduced outlook “sees concerning trends in US”