Monday, September 21, 2015

CNBC: If mortgage rates go to 6%, here's what happens to housing

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/11/if-mortgage-rates-go-to-6-heres-what-happens-to-housing.html

If mortgage rates go to 6%, here's what happens to housing



















207
COMMENTSJoin the Discussion
<p>Government rates up since January</p> <p>Discussing the lag between the bond market and mortgage rates, and when the Fed will potentially hike rates, with Nela Richardson, Redfin chief economist. </p>
When it comes to interest rates, what goes down eventually must go up.
And as interest rates begin moving back up to more "normal" levels, that could spell trouble for home prices.
When the bottom fell out of the housing market in 2007, the Federal Reserve responded by pushing borrowing rates to record low levels. Those very low interest rates helped the housing market get back on its feet by making it cheaper for buyers to own a home. As of this summer, the average selling price of a single-family home has made up all the ground lost to the housing bust.

Now, if interest rates go back up to more normal levels, the cost of buying a house will also rise. That could put pressure on home prices, which have bounced back more than 50 percent since bottoming out in early 2012.
To see how prices might be hit by rising rates, real estate consultant John Burns ran the numbers assuming the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage gradually moves back up to 6 percent—from the current average of just more than 4 percent.
The result is that some very hot markets—including San Francisco, San Jose, California, and Miami—may be overvalued by more than 20 percent.
Read MoreNo Fed interest rate hike until 2017: Sri-Kumar

In other markets, where home prices haven't risen nearly as fast, prices are still undervalued—even if mortgage rates move back up to 6 percent. Those undervalued markets include Chicago, Atlanta and Detroit.
For homebuyers who lock in relatively low rates now, the cost of homeownership is still pretty affordable—but a lot depends on where you live. Burns expects that variation from one city to the next to remain over the long term.
In the priciest places—like San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Jose and Orange County, California—the cost of buying a house can consume half of the average income.
Homebuyers in more affordable cities, including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Detroit, can expect to spend roughly 20 percent of income or less, according to his analysis.
John W. SchoenCNBC.com Economics Reporter

Friday, September 11, 2015

Goldman: This may push oil to $20

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/11/goldman-this-may-push-oil-to-20.html?trknav=homestack:topnews:3

(http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/11/non-opec-supply-set-for-big-fall-iea.html)

Goldman: This may push oil to $20













22
COMMENTSJoin the Discussion

Residential homes are shown next to a Shell Oil facility in Carson, California
Mike Blake | Reuters
Residential homes are shown next to a Shell Oil facility in Carson, California
The risk that oil could fall as low as $20 a barrel is rising, with a persistent surplus requiring prices to remain lower for longer to rebalance the market, Goldman Sachs said, cutting its forecasts again.
"While we are increasingly convinced that the market needs to see lower oil prices for longer to achieve a production cut, the source of this production decline and its forcing mechanism is growing more uncertain, raising the possibility that we may ultimately clear at a sharply lower price with cash costs around $20 a barrel Brent prices," Goldman said in a note Friday.
Read More Oil dips as Saudi rejects producer summit, set for weekly fall

The sources of stress: an abundance of oil coupled with a scarcity of storage space. The bank estimates the industry added around 240 million barrels of petroleum to storage tanks from January to August. It projects available identified storage capacity outside China at around 375 million barrels and expects an around 240 million barrel inventory build outside China between September of this year and the end of 2016.
"In the event that storage fills faster than we forecast or capacity is lower than we model, the potential downside to our oil price forecast from hitting storage capacity is significant ," it said.
But it noted $20 a barrel isn't its base case, even though risks that oil will fall that low continue to rise, especially as the bank expects only moderate production declines through the end of the year.
Goldman cut its one-month, three-month, six-month and 12-month WTI oil price forecasts to $38, $42, $40 and $45 a barrel. That's down from $45, $49, $54 and $60 previously.
It cut its average price forecast for 2016 to $45 a barrel from $57.
Read More Russia will not cut oil production: Deputy PM

Brent for October delivery was trading around $48.73 a barrel on Friday, while U.S. crude was trading around $45.63 a barrel. That follows a wild ride for oil prices, with crude rallying from a low of $37.75 touched on Aug. 24, with daily swings of more than 5 percent in either direction.

"The oil market is even more oversupplied than we had expected," Goldman said. "We now forecast this surplus to persist in 2016 on further OPEC production growth, resilient non-OPEC supply and slowing demand growth, with risks skewed to even weaker demand given China's slowdown and its negative emerging market feedback loop."
--Amanda Diaz contributed to this article.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Employment situation for August 2015

http://mam.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=467000&cust=mam&year=2015&lid=0&prev=/byweek.asp#top

Employment Situation  
Released On 9/4/2015 8:30:00 AM For Aug, 2015

PriorPrior RevisedConsensusConsensus RangeActual
Nonfarm Payrolls - M/M change215,000 245,000 223,000 173,000  to 257,000 173,000 
Unemployment Rate - Level5.3 %5.3 %5.2 %5.2 % to 5.3 %5.1 %
Private Payrolls - M/M change210,000 224,000 211,000 175,000  to 254,000 140,000 
Participation Rate - level62.6 %62.6 %

62.6 %
Average Hourly Earnings - M/M change0.2 %0.2 %0.2 %0.2 % to 0.4 %0.3 %
Av Workweek - All Employees34.6 hrs34.5 hrs34.6 hrs34.5 hrs to 34.6 hrs34.6 hrs
Highlights
The headline may not look it but there's plenty of strength in the August employment report. Nonfarm payrolls rose only 173,000 which is at the low-end estimate, but the two prior months are now revised up a total of 44,000. The unemployment rate fell 2 tenths to 5.1 percent which is below the low end estimate and the lowest of the recovery, since April 2008. And wages are strong, with average hourly earnings up 0.3 percent for a 2.2 percent year-on-year rate that's 1 tenth higher than July. Debate will definitely be lively at the September 17 FOMC!

Private payroll growth proved very weak, at only 140,000. Government added 33,000 jobs vs July's 21,000. Manufacturing, held back by weak exports and trouble in energy equipment, shed a steep 17,000 jobs followed by a 9,000 loss for mining which is getting hit by low commodity prices. A plus is a 33,000 rise in professional & business services and a respectable 11,000 rise in the temporary help subcomponent. This subcomponent is considered a leading indicator for long-term labor demand. Retail rose 11,000 with vehicle dealers, who have been very busy, adding 2,000 jobs following July's gain of 11,000.

The participation rate remains low, unchanged at 62.6 percent. Other details include a 1 tenth downtick in the broadly defined U-6 unemployment rate to 10.3 percent. The workweek rose to 34.6 from 34.5 hours.

Seasonality, especially the timing of the beginning of the school year, always plays an outsized role in August employment data which are often revised higher. Policy makers are certain to take this into consideration at this month's FOMC. There's something for everybody in this report which won't likely settle expectations whether the Fed lifts off or not this month.
Recent History Of This Indicator
The employment situation report for August is expected to show an incremental uptick with nonfarm payrolls expected to rise 223,000 vs 215,000 in July. The unemployment rate is expected to tick 1 tenth lower to an ever tighter 5.2 percent while average hourly earnings are expected to remain tame, at plus 0.2 percent. Note that the high-end nonfarm payroll forecast, at 257,000, isn't exceptionally strong and even if hit, might not be enough to raise expectations for a September rate hike.
Definition
The employment situation is a set of labor market indicators based on two separate surveys in this one report. The unemployment rate equals the number of unemployed persons divided by the total number of persons in the labor force, which comes from a survey of 60,000 households (this is called the household survey). Workers are only counted once, no matter how many jobs they have, or whether they are only working part-time. In order to be counted as unemployed, one must be actively looking for work. Other commonly known figures from the Household Survey include the labor supply and discouraged workers.  Why Investors Care
 
[Chart]
During the mature phase of an economic expansion, monthly payrolls gains of 150,000 or so are considered relatively healthy. In the early stages of recovery though, gains are expected to surpass 250,000 per month.
Data Source: Haver Analytics
 
[Chart]
The civilian unemployment rate is a lagging indicator of economic activity. During a recession, many people leave the labor force entirely, so the jobless rate may not increase as much as expected. This means that the jobless rate may continue to increase in the early stages of recovery because more people are returning to the labor force as they believe they will be able to find work. The civilian unemployment rate tends towards greater stability than payroll employment on a monthly basis. It reveals the degree to which labor resources are utilized in the economy.
Data Source: Haver Analytics

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Productivity and Costs for second quarter 2015

http://mam.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=467104&cust=mam&year=2015&lid=0&prev=/byweek.asp#top

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-productivity-rises-at-fastest-pace-since-end-of-2013-2015-09-02?dist=lcountdown


2015 Economic Calendar
POWERED BY  econoday logo
U.S. & Intl Recaps   |   Event Definitions   |   Today's Calendar
Productivity and Costs  
Released On 9/2/2015 8:30:00 AM For Q2:15

PriorConsensusConsensus RangeActual
Nonfarm productivity - Q/Q change - SAAR1.3 %2.8 %1.6 % to 3.3 %3.3 %
Unit labor costs - Q/Q change - SAAR0.5 %-1.2 %-1.4 % to 0.4 %-1.4 %
Highlights
The upward revision to second-quarter GDP gave a strong lift to nonfarm productivity, up 3.3 percent at an annualized rate which is at the very top of the Econoday consensus and well up from plus 1.3 percent in the initial reading. This is the best performance since the fourth quarter of 2013.

The gain in productivity in turn drove unit labor costs 1.4 percent lower which is well down from the prior estimate of plus 0.5 percent and at the very low end of consensus and the sharpest drop since the second quarter of 2014. Output rose a sharp 4.7 percent in the quarter while hours worked rose only 1.4 percent with compensation up only 1.8 percent.

But year-on-year data tell a different story with productivity up 0.7 percent in the second quarter and labor costs up 1.7 percent. These readings reflect prior weakness in productivity tied to weak output in the first and fourth quarters.

And the productivity outlook for the ongoing third quarter is also soft with early GDP estimates at roughly plus 2 to 2.5 percent. For reference, second-quarter GDP came in at 3.7 percent, revised from a prior reading of 2.3 percent.
Recent History Of This Indicator
The second estimate for productivity & costs is expected to show a rise in productivity growth to 2.8 percent from 1.3 percent reflecting the upward revision to second-quarter GDP. Higher productivity points to lower unit labor costs which are expected to fall 1.2 percent.
Definition
Productivity measures the growth of labor efficiency in producing the economy's goods and services. Unit labor costs reflect the labor costs of producing each unit of output. Both are followed as indicators of future inflationary trends.  Why Investors Care
[Chart]
Nonfarm productivity growth has remained healthy during this expansion, but it has prevented employment from growing very fast and this hurt income growth to some extent. Unit labor costs tend to fall when productivity growth accelerates and then rises as productivity growth abates.
Data Source: Haver Analytics
Please note: Your browser must display iFrames to view the Interactive charts.
2015 Release Schedule
Released On: 2/53/55/66/48/119/211/512/2
Release For: Q4:14Q4:14Q1:15Q1:15Q2:15Q2:15Q3:15Q3:15

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