by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2022 04:17:00 PM

Two key points:
1) There is a clear seasonal pattern for house prices.
2) The surge in distressed sales during the housing bust distorted the seasonal pattern.

For in depth description of these issues, see Jed Kolko's article from 2014 "Let’s Improve, Not Ignore, Seasonal Adjustment of Housing Data"

Note: I was one of several people to question the change in the seasonal factor (here is a post in 2009) - and this led to S&P Case-Shiller questioning the seasonal factor too (from April 2010).  I still use the seasonal factor (I think it is better than using the NSA data).

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the month-to-month change in the NSA Case-Shiller National index since 1987 (through July 2022). The seasonal pattern was smaller back in the '90s and early '00s and increased once the bubble burst.

The seasonal swings declined following the bust, however the recent price surge changed the month-over-month pattern.

The second graph shows the seasonal factors for the Case-Shiller National index since 1987. The factors started to change near the peak of the bubble, and really increased during the bust since normal sales followed the regular seasonal pattern - and distressed sales happened all year.   

The swings in the seasonal factors have decreased, and the seasonal factors had been moving back towards more normal levels.

Note that the recent price surge hasn't distorted the seasonal factors.  Unless there is a wave of distressed sales (unlikely due to mostly solid lending), the seasonal pattern won't be distorted like during the housing bust.

by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2022 11:15:00 AM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Pace of Rent Increases Continues to Slow

A brief excerpt:

Here is a graph of the year-over-year (YoY) change for these measures since January 2015. All of these measures are through August 2022 (Apartment List through September 2022).

Note that new lease measures (Zillow, Apartment List) dipped early in the pandemic, whereas the BLS measures were steady. Then new leases took off, and the BLS measures are picking up.
...
The Zillow measure is up 12.3% YoY in August, down from 13.8% YoY in July. This is down from a peak of 17.2% YoY in February.

The ApartmentList measure is up 7.5% YoY as of September, down from 9.8% in August. This is down from the peak of 18.0% YoY last November.

Rents are still increasing, and we should expect this to continue to spill over into measures of inflation. The Owners’ Equivalent Rent (OER) was up 6.3% YoY in August, from 5.8% YoY in July - and will likely increase further in the coming months.
...
My suspicion is rent increases will slow further over the coming months as the pace of household formation slows, and more supply comes on the market.

There is much more in the article. You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/

by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2022 10:03:00 AM

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Dropped 2.0% in August

Pending home sales sagged for the third straight month in August, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Three out of four major regions experienced month-over-month decreases in transactions, however, the West saw a modest gain. Year-over-year, all four regions posted double-digit declines.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, fell 2.0% to 88.4 in August. Year-over-year, pending transactions dwindled by 24.2%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

"The direction of mortgage rates – upward or downward – is the prime mover for home buying, and decade-high rates have deeply cut into contract signings," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "If mortgage rates moderate and the economy continues adding jobs, then home buying should also stabilize."
...
The Northeast PHSI decreased 3.4% from last month to 76.6, down 19.0% from August 2021. The Midwest index fell 5.2% to 88.4 in August, a 21.1% drop from the previous year.

The South PHSI slid 0.9% to 105.4 in August, a decline of 24.2% from a year ago. The West index rose by 1.4% in August to 71.0, down 31.3% from August 2021.
emphasis added

This was a larger decline than expected for this index. Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in September and October.

by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2022 07:00:00 AM

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications decreased 3.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 23, 2022.

... The Refinance Index decreased 11 percent from the previous week and was 84 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 29 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

“Applications for both purchase and refinances declined last week as mortgage rates continued to increase to multi-year highs following more aggressive policy measures from the Federal Reserve to bring down inflation. Additionally, ongoing uncertainty about the impact of the Fed’s reduction of its MBS and Treasury holdings is adding to the volatility in mortgage rates. The 30-year fixed rate was 6.52 percent, its highest level since mid-2008. After a brief pause in July, mortgage rates have increased more than a percentage point over the past six weeks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “With rates now more than double what they were a year ago, the pace of refinancing is running at a 22-year low and last week was more than 80 percent below last year’s level. Similarly, purchase activity was 29 percent lower than a year ago, with higher rates and economic uncertainty weighing on buyers’ decisions.”

Added Kan, “With the recent jump in rates, the ARM share reached 10 percent of applications and almost 20 percent of dollar volume. ARM loans remain a viable option for qualified borrowers in this rising rate environment.”
...
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.52 percent from 6.25 percent, with points increasing to 1.15 from 0.71 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.


The first graph shows the refinance index since 1990.

With higher mortgage rates, the refinance index has declined sharply this year.

The refinance index is at the lowest level since the year 2000.

The second graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index

According to the MBA, purchase activity is down 29% year-over-year unadjusted.

The purchase index is only 9% above the pandemic low.

Note: Red is a four-week average (blue is weekly).

by Calculated Risk on 9/27/2022 08:53:00 PM

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Yes, Mortgage Rates Are Now Over 7%, But It's Complicated

That brings us to the bottom line on 7% not necessarily being 7%. Most rate quotes and most major rate indices include upfront "points" or other cost assumptions (and in larger amounts than normal). The presence of points means you could definitely still get 6.625% today. You'd just be paying more for it upfront. [30 year fixed 7.08%]
emphasis added

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

• At 10:00 AM, Pending Home Sales Index for August. The consensus is 1.0% decrease in the index.

On COVID (focus on hospitalizations and deaths):

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
New Cases per Day2	49,808	56,844	≤5,0001
Hospitalized2	23,355	26,111	≤3,0001
Deaths per Day2	353	385	≤501
1my goals to stop daily posts, 27-day average for Cases, Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing 7-day average week-over-week for Cases, Hospitalized, and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the daily (columns) and 7-day average (line) of deaths reported.

NOTE: Cases have declined by more than half, and deaths lag cases - so we might see average daily deaths in the 200s soon (better, but still too high).

Average daily deaths bottomed in July 2021 at 214 per day.

by Calculated Risk on 9/27/2022 03:54:00 PM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: New Home Sales Increased in August; Completed Inventory Increased

Brief excerpt:

The next graph shows the months of supply by stage of construction. “Months of supply” is inventory at each stage, divided by the sales rate.

There are 0.86 months of completed supply (red line). This is about 60% of the normal level.

The inventory of new homes under construction is at 5.36 months (blue line). This elevated level of homes under construction is due to supply chain constraints.

And a record 106 thousand homes have not been started - about 1.86 months of supply (grey line) - about double the normal level. Homebuilders are probably waiting to start some homes until they have a firmer grasp on prices and demand.
...
First, as I discussed yesterday, the Census Bureau overestimates sales, and underestimates inventory when cancellation rates are rising, see: New Home Sales and Cancellations: Net vs Gross Sales. So, take the headline sales number with a large grain of salt - the actual negative impact on the homebuilders is greater than the headline number suggests!

There are a large number of homes under construction, and this suggests we will see a sharp increase in completed inventory over the next several months - and that will put pressure on new home prices.

You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/.

by Calculated Risk on 9/27/2022 10:09:00 AM

The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 685 thousand.

The previous three months were revised up, combined.

Sales of new single‐family houses in August 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 28.8 percent above the revised July rate of 532,000, but is 0.1 percent below the August 2021 estimate of 686,000.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.

New home sales are now at pre-pandemic levels.

The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply.

The months of supply decreased in August to 8.1 months from 10.4 months in July.

The all-time record high was 12.1 months of supply in January 2009. The all-time record low was 3.5 months, most recently in October 2020.

This is well above the top of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months of supply is normal).

"The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 461,000. This represents a supply of 8.1 months at the current sales rate."

The last graph shows sales NSA (monthly sales, not seasonally adjusted annual rate).

In August 2022 (red column), 55 thousand new homes were sold (NSA). Last year, 55 thousand homes were sold in August.

The all-time high for August was 110 thousand in 2005, and the all-time low for August was 23 thousand in 2010.

This was well above expectations, and sales in the three previous months were revised up, combined. I'll have more later today.

by Calculated Risk on 9/27/2022 09:48:00 AM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Case-Shiller: National House Price Index "Continued its Deceleration" to 15.8% year-over-year increase in July

Excerpt:

Both the Case-Shiller House Price Index (HPI) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) HPI for July were released today. Here is a graph of the month-over-month (MoM) change in the Case-Shiller National Index Seasonally Adjusted (SA).

The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for “July” is a 3-month average of May, June and July closing prices. May closing prices include some contracts signed in March, so there is a significant lag to this data.

The MoM decrease in Case-Shiller was at -0.24%. This was the first MoM decrease since February 2012, and since this includes closings in May and June, this suggests prices fell sharply in July.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices declined in 12 of the 20 Case-Shiller cities on a month-to-month basis: Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Washington DC, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Portland, Dallas and Seattle all saw month-to-month price declines in the July report.
...
On the FHFA index: FHFA House Price Index Down 0.6 Percent in July; Up 13.9 Percent from Last Year

House prices fell nationwide in July, down 0.6 percent from the previous month, according to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (FHFA HPI®). House prices rose 13.9 percent from July 2021 to July 2022.

There is much more in the article. You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/

by Calculated Risk on 9/27/2022 09:11:00 AM

S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for July ("July" is a 3-month average of May, June and July closing prices).

This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.

From S&P: S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Index Continued its Deceleration in July

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 15.8% annual gain in July, down from 18.1% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 14.9%, down from 17.4% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 16.1% year-over-year gain, down from 18.7% in the previous month.

Tampa, Miami, and Dallas reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in July. Tampa led the way with a 31.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Miami in second with a 31.7% increase, and Dallas in third with a 24.7% increase. All 20 cities reported lower price increases in the year ending July 2022 versus the year ending June 2022.
...
Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a -0.3% month-over-month decrease in July, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted decreases of -0.8%.

After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month decrease of -0.2%, and the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted decreases of -0.5% and -0.4%, respectively.

In July, only 7 cities reported increases before and after seasonal adjustments.

“Although U.S. housing prices remain substantially above their year-ago levels, July’s report reflects a forceful deceleration,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. “For example, while the National Composite Index rose by 15.8% in the 12 months ended July 2022, its year-over-year price rise in June was 18.1%. The -2.3% difference between those two monthly rates of gain is the largest deceleration in the history of the index. We saw similar patterns in our 10-City Composite (up 14.9% in July vs. 17.4% in June) and our 20-City Composite (up 16.1% in July vs. 18.7% in June). On a monthover-month basis, all three composites declined in July"
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The Composite 10 index is down 0.5% in July (SA).

The Composite 20 index is down 0.4% (SA) in July.

The National index is 65% above the bubble peak (SA), and down 0.2% (SA) in July.  The National index is up 136% from the post-bubble low set in February 2012 (SA).

The second graph shows the year-over-year change in all three indices.

The Composite 10 SA is up 14.9% year-over-year.  The Composite 20 SA is up 16.1% year-over-year.

The National index SA is up 15.8% year-over-year.

Price increases were lower than expectations.  I'll have more later.

by Calculated Risk on 9/26/2022 09:10:00 PM

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Now at 20-Year Highs

The most recent historical high water market for mortgage rates was "14 years." It was broken so many times in September that we officially declared it to be boring last Tuesday. Now, less than a week later, 14-year highs would be more exciting than boring. As of mid-day today, we're officially at 20 year highs. [30 year fixed 6.87%]
emphasis added

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders for August from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.1% decrease in durable goods orders.

• At 9:00 AM, S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for July. The consensus is for a 17.0% year-over-year increase in the Comp 20 index for July.

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

• At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for August from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for 500 thousand SAAR, down from 511 thousand in July.

• Also at 10:00 AM, the Richmond Fed manufacturing survey for September. This is the last of the regional surveys for September.

On COVID (focus on hospitalizations and deaths):

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
New Cases per Day2	50,017	58,522	≤5,0001
Hospitalized2	22,280	26,467	≤3,0001
Deaths per Day2	348	391	≤501
1my goals to stop daily posts, 27-day average for Cases, Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing 7-day average week-over-week for Cases, Hospitalized, and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the daily (columns) and 7-day average (line) of deaths reported.

NOTE: Cases have declined by more than half, and deaths lag cases - so we might see average daily deaths in the 200s soon (good news, but still too high).

Average daily deaths bottomed in July 2021 at 214 per day.