January Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

  • February 15, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

January Industrial Production -0.3% vs. estimates of 0.1%. Capacity Utilization 75.3% vs. estimates of 75.6%. This is weaker data than expected, but not a major market mover.

READ MORE

Home builders speed up work in February

  • March 16, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

Construction on new houses climbed 3% in February to the second highest level since 2007, reflecting pentup demand in a steadily growing economy that builders are aiming to address. The pace of so-called housing starts rose to an annual rate of 1.29 million last month, with construction on single-family homes hitting the highest level since

READ MORE

Bank of England votes 8-1 to hold key rate at 0.25%

  • March 16, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

The Bank of England on Thursday left its key interest rate at a record low 0.25%, meeting widely held expectations. The vote to hold the rate steady was 8-1, with board member Kristen Forbes backing a rate increase. The central bank left unchanged the size of its asset purchase program at £435 billion ($533 billion)

READ MORE

December Business Inventories and NAHB Home Builder’s Sentiment Index

  • February 15, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

December Business Inventories 0.4% vs. estimates of 0.4%, while the NAHB Home Builder’s Sentiment Index 65 vs. estimates of 67. All eyes on Janet Yellen and these will not be a large factor for today pricing.

READ MORE

Treasurys give back some gains after Fed-inspired ‘Goldilocks’ rally

  • March 16, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

U.S. government-bond yields rose Thursday as Treasury prices gave back some of the ground gained a day earlier in a sharp rally following the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated rate increase. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 1.6 basis points to 2.52%, according to Tradeweb, while the 2-year yield rose 0.8 basis point to

READ MORE

Industrial output flat in February, held down by utility production

  • March 17, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

Manufacturing output gained 0.5% in February, the sixth straight monthly increase. Economist had expected a 0.3% rise in output in February. This followed a revised 0.1% decline in January, a bit faster than the original reading of a 0.3% decline. Industrial output has been in an up-and-down pattern since last fall. Compared with the same

READ MORE

Yellen Grilling Continues on Capitol Hill

  • February 15, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is back in the hot seat, giving her semiannual monetary policy report to Congress and taking questions from members.

READ MORE

U.S. housing starts dip 2.6% in January

  • February 16, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

Construction on new houses fell 2.6% in January, but another increase in permits points to builders breaking ground on more units in the months ahead. Housing starts took place at an annual rate of 1.246 million last month, the government said Thursday. That’s how many houses would be built in the U.S. in 2017 if

READ MORE

Fed’s Kashkari saw no need to raise interest rates this week as inflation remains tame

  • March 17, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Friday said he dissented from the U.S. central bank’s decision to hike interest rates earlier this week because not all that much had changed in the outlook for inflation since the January meeting. While there were some signs that inflation was picking up, it was not happening rapidly, Kashkari

READ MORE

Jobless claims climb 5,000 to still-low

  • February 16, 2017
  • no comment
  • realestatelife

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in mid-February rose by 5,000 to 239,000, but they remained at exceedingly low levels that reflect the resilience of a nearly eight-year-old economic recovery. Continuing Jobless Claims 2.076M vs. estimates of 2.051M.

READ MORE