by Calculated Risk on 4/29/2024 03:02:00 PM

The BEA released the underlying details for the Q1 advance GDP report on Friday.

The BEA reported that investment in non-residential structures decreased at a 0.1% annual pace in Q1.  

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows investment in offices, malls and lodging as a percent of GDP.

Investment in offices (blue) increased slightly in Q1 and was up 4.1% year-over-year.  And declined slightly as a percent of GDP.

Investment in multimerchandise shopping structures (malls) peaked in 2007 and was down about 1% year-over-year in Q1.   The vacancy rate for malls is still very high, so investment will probably stay low for some time.

Lodging investment decreased in Q1 compared to Q4, and lodging investment was up 1% year-over-year.

All three sectors - offices, malls, and hotels - were hurt significantly by the pandemic.  And the office vacancy rate is at a record high, and this will hold down office investment.

The second graph is for Residential investment components as a percent of GDP. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, RI includes new single-family structures, multifamily structures, home improvement, Brokers’ commissions and other ownership transfer costs, and a few minor categories (dormitories, manufactured homes).

Investment in single family structures was up to $433 billion (SAAR) (about 1.5% of GDP) and was up 16% year-over-year.

Investment in multi-family structures was down in Q1 compared to Q4 to $133 billion (SAAR), but still up 12% YoY.

Investment in home improvement was at a $351 billion (SAAR) in Q1 (about 1.2% of GDP).  Home improvement spending was strong during the pandemic but has declined as a percent of GDP recently.

Note that Brokers' commissions (black) increased sharply as existing home sales increased in the second half of 2020 but declined when mortgage rates increased.   Brokers' commissions were up 3% year-over-year in Q1.

by Calculated Risk on 4/29/2024 01:11:00 PM

From STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 20 April

U.S. hotel performance showed mixed results from the previous week, according to CoStar’s latest data through 20 April. ...

14-20 April 2024 (percentage change from comparable week in 2023):

• Occupancy: 66.8% (-0.3%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$158.60 (+1.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$105.94 (+1.2%)
emphasis added

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average.

Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2024, black is 2020, blue is the median, and dashed light blue is for 2023.  Dashed purple is for 2018, the record year for hotel occupancy. 

The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is tracking last year, and slightly above the median rate for the period 2000 through 2023 (Blue).

Note: Y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the seasonal change.

The 4-week average of the occupancy rate will move mostly sideways seasonally until the summer travel season.

by Calculated Risk on 4/29/2024 11:01:00 AM

During the early stages of the pandemic, energy expenditures as a percentage of PCE hit an all-time low of 3.3% of PCE. Then energy expenditures increased to 2018 levels by the end of 2021.

With the invasion of Ukraine, energy expenditures as a percentage of PCE increased further in 2022.

Here is an update through the March 2024 PCE report.

This graph shows expenditures on energy goods and services as a percent of total personal consumption expenditures.  This is one of the measures that Professor Hamilton at Econbrowser looks at to evaluate any drag on GDP from energy prices.

Click on graph for larger image.

Data source: BEA.

In general, energy expenditures as a percent of PCE has been trending down for decades. The huge spikes in energy prices during the oil crisis of 1973 and 1979 are obvious. As is the increase in energy prices during the 2001 through 2008 period.

In August March 2024, energy expenditures as a percentage of PCE were at 4.1% of PCE, up from 4.0% in February, and down from the recent peak of 5.2% in June 2022. 

This is close to the pre-pandemic level of PCE.

by Calculated Risk on 4/29/2024 08:12:00 AM

Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 2.5% week-over-week. Inventory bottomed in mid-February this year, as opposed to mid-April in 2023, and inventory is now up 12.6% from the February bottom.

Click on graph for larger image.

This inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research.

As of April 26th, inventory was at 556 thousand (7-day average), compared to 543 thousand the prior week.   

Inventory is still far below pre-pandemic levels. 

The second graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.

The red line is for 2024.  The black line is for 2019.  Note that inventory is up almost double from the record low for the same week in 2022, but still well below normal levels.

Inventory was up 31.8% compared to the same week in 2023 (last week it was up 30.9%), and down 35.9% compared to the same week in 2019 (last week it was down 37.2%). 

Back in June 2023, inventory was down almost 54% compared to 2019, so the gap to more normal inventory levels is slowly closing.

Mike Simonsen discusses this data regularly on Youtube.

by Calculated Risk on 4/28/2024 06:16:00 PM

Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of April 28, 2024

Monday:
• At 10:30 AM ET, Dallas Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for April.

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures S&P 500 are up 4 and DOW futures are up 60 (fair value).

Oil prices were up over the last week with WTI futures at $83.85 per barrel and Brent at $89.50 per barrel. A year ago, WTI was at $77, and Brent was at $81 - so WTI oil prices are up about 8% year-over-year.

Here is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are at $3.64 per gallon. A year ago, prices were at $3.59 per gallon, so gasoline prices are up $0.05 year-over-year.

by Calculated Risk on 4/28/2024 12:39:00 PM

What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For March, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 23.5% YoY, but still down almost 38% compared to March 2017 to 2019 levels. 

 Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 31.7% YoY.

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View—Data Week Ending April 20, 2024

• Active inventory increased, with for-sale homes 31.7% above year-ago levels.

For the 24th straight week, there were more homes listed for sale versus the prior year, giving homebuyers more options. As mortgage rates have climbed to new 2024 highs, we could see sellers adjust their plans, since nearly three-quarters of potential sellers also play to buy a home. However, the long build-up to listing–80% have been thinking about selling for 1 to 3 years–could mean that this year’s sellers are less-deterred by market fluctuations.

• New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were up this week, by 13.5% from one year ago.

Since February, the number of homes newly listed for sale has surpassed year ago pace by double-digit with the exception of a few weeks around this year’s spring holidays. As reported in the Realtor.com March housing report, newly listed homes trailed behind every prior year except 2023’s record low.

Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in inventory according to realtor.com. 

Inventory was up year-over-year for the 24th consecutive week.  

However, inventory is still historically very low.

New listings remain below typical pre-pandemic levels although increasing. 

by Calculated Risk on 4/28/2024 08:21:00 AM

Most analysts expect there will be no change to the federal funds rate at the meeting this week keeping the target range at 5‑1/4 to 5-1/2 percent.  Fed Chair Powell is expected to maintain a slightly hawkish stance during the press conference, since the recent inflation reports were above expectations.

Currently market participants expect the next Fed move to be a 25 bp cut announced at the September FOMC meeting.  The market is almost pricing in a 2nd cut in December. 

 
From BofA:

The Fed is less confident about how quickly inflation will slow, but it has not given up on its expectation that it will. We expect the Fed to say it is prepared to keep policy rates where they are for as long as needed to bring inflation down. We also look for the Fed to announce the tapering of balance sheet runoff by cutting the maximum runoff cap on Treasuries in half.

Projections will NOT be released at this meeting. For review, here are the March projections. Since the last projections were released, growth has been slightly slower, and inflation slightly higher than expected.

The BEA's advance report for Q1 GDP showed real growth at 1.6% annualized.  Early estimates for Q2 GDP are around 3% annualized, and the FOMC projections for year-over-year growth in Q4 2024 are close.

GDP projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Change in Real GDP1
Projection Date	2024	2025	2026
Mar 2024	2.0 to 2.4	1.9 to 2.3	1.8 to 2.1
Dec 2023	1.2 to 1.7	1.5 to 2.0	1.8 to 2.0

¹ Projections of change in real GDP and inflation are from the fourth quarter of the previous year to the fourth quarter of the year indicated.

The unemployment rate was at 3.8% in March, just below the FOMC projections for Q4.

Unemployment projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Unemployment Rate2
Projection Date	2024	2025	2026
Mar 2024	3.9 to 4.1	3.9 to 4.2	3.9 to 4.3
Dec 2023	4.0 to 4.2	4.0 to 4.2	3.9 to 4.3

² Projections for the unemployment rate are for the average civilian unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of the year indicated.

As of March 2024, PCE inflation increased 2.7 percent year-over-year (YoY).  This is at the high end of the FOMC projections for Q4.

Inflation projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, PCE Inflation1
Projection Date	2024	2025	2026
Mar 2024	2.3 to 2.7	2.1 to 2.2	2.0 to 2.1
Dec 2023	2.2 to 2.5	2.0 to 2.2	2.0

PCE core inflation increased 2.8 percent YoY in March.  This is also at the high end of the FOMC projections for Q4 2024.

Over the last 6 months, the PCE Price Index increase 2.5% annualized, the core PCE price index increased at a 3.0% annual rate.   However, core PCE minus Housing increased at a 2.4% annualized rate suggesting that 2024 projections are a little high.

Core Inflation projections of Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents, Core Inflation1
Projection Date	2024	2025	2026
Mar 2024	2.5 to 2.8	2.1 to 2.3	2.0 to 2.1
Dec 2023	2.4 to 2.7	2.0 to 2.2	2.0 to 2.1

by Calculated Risk on 4/27/2024 02:11:00 PM

At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:

• New Home Sales Increase to 693,000 Annual Rate in March

• Lawler: Observations on the Recent Surge in Net International Migration

• Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased, Multi-family Decreased in March

• Final Look at Local Housing Markets in March

This is usually published 4 to 6 times a week and provides more in-depth analysis of the housing market.

by Calculated Risk on 4/27/2024 08:11:00 AM

The key report scheduled for this week is the April employment report.

Other key reports include February Case-Shiller house prices, April vehicle sales, and the March trade balance.

The FOMC meets this week and no change to the Fed funds rate is expected.

For manufacturing, the April Dallas Fed manufacturing survey, and the ISM index will be released.

----- Monday, April 29th -----
10:30 AM: Dallas Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for April.

----- Tuesday, April 30th -----
9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for February.

This graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted National Index, Composite 10 and Composite 20 indexes through the most recent report (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The consensus is for a 6.7% year-over-year increase in the Comp 20 index for February.

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

9:45 AM: Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for April. The consensus is for a reading of 45.0, up from 41.4 in March.

10:00 AM: the Q1 2024 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership from the Census Bureau.

----- Wednesday, May 1st -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:15 AM: The ADP Employment Report for April. This report is for private payrolls only (no government). The consensus is for 180,000 payroll jobs added in April, down from 184,000 added in March.

10:00 AM ET: ISM Manufacturing Index for April. The consensus is for the ISM to be at 50.1, down from 50.3 in March.

10:00 AM: Construction Spending for March. The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in construction spending.

10:00 AM ET: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for March from the BLS.

This graph shows job openings (black line), hires (dark blue), Layoff, Discharges and other (red column), and Quits (light blue column) from the JOLTS.

Jobs openings were little changed in February at 8.76 million from 8.75 million in January.

The number of job openings (black) were down 11% year-over-year in February.

2:00 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. No change to to the Fed funds rate is expected.at this meeting.

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

All day: Light vehicle sales for April. The expectation is for light vehicle sales to be 15.7 million SAAR in April, up from 15.5 million in March (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).

This graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967. The dashed line is the sales rate for the previous month.

----- Thursday, May 2nd -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 210 thousand initial claims, up from 207 thousand last week.

8:30 AM: Trade Balance report for March from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum, through the most recent report. The blue line is the total deficit, and the black line is the petroleum deficit, and the red line is the trade deficit ex-petroleum products.

The consensus is the trade deficit to be $68.8 billion.  The U.S. trade deficit was at $68.9 billion in February.

----- Friday, May 3rd -----
8:30 AM: Employment Report for April.   The consensus is for 210,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 3.8%.

There were 303,000 jobs added in March, and the unemployment rate was at 3.8%.

This graph shows the jobs added per month since January 2021.

10:00 AM: the ISM Services Index for April.   The consensus is for a reading of 52.0, up from 51.4.

by Calculated Risk on 4/26/2024 07:12:00 PM

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

It is likely that we will see pandemic lows for weekly deaths in the next several weeks.  That is welcome news!

For deaths, I'm currently using 4 weeks ago for "now", since the most recent three weeks will be revised significantly.

Hospitalizations have declined significantly from the winter high of 30,027 are now below the low of 5,386 last year.

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
Hospitalized2	5,195	6,055	≤3,0001
Deaths per Week2	648	806	≤3501
1my goals to stop weekly posts, 2Weekly for Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing number weekly for Hospitalized and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the weekly (columns) number of deaths reported.

Weekly deaths have declined sharply from the recent peak of 2,561 but are still 30% above the pandemic low of 491 last July.

And here is a graph I'm following concerning COVID in wastewater as of April 25th:

This appears to be a leading indicator for COVID hospitalizations and deaths.

Nationally, COVID in wastewater is now off 90% from the holiday peak at the end of December, and that suggests weekly hospitalizations and deaths will continue to decline.