by Calculated Risk on 3/18/2017 08:11:00 AM

The key economic report this week are February New and Existing Home sales.

----- Monday, Mar 20th -----
8:30 AM: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for February. This is a composite index of other data.

----- Tuesday, Mar 21st-----
No economic releases scheduled.

----- Wednesday, Mar 22nd -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

9:00 AM: FHFA House Price Index for January 2017. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for February from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 5.55 million SAAR, down from 5.69 million in January.

Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report sales of 5.41 million SAAR in February.

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

----- Thursday, Mar 23rd -----
8:30 AM ET: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 240 thousand initial claims, down from 241 thousand the previous week.

8:45 AM, Speech by Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen, Opening Remarks, At the 2017 Federal Reserve System Community Development Research Conference, Washington, D.C.

10:00 AM ET: New Home Sales for February from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the January sales rate.

The consensus is for a increase in sales to 565 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in February from 555 thousand in January.

11:00 AM: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for March.

----- Friday, Mar 24th -----
8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for January from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 1.5% increase in durable goods orders.

10:00 AM: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for February 2017