Home Prices up.

Redbook (week ended 1/23/2016)

– Chain Store Sales year/year   +1.0%. Previous was +1.4%

 
FHFA House Price Index  (November 2015)

– month/month +0.5%. Previous was +0.5%
– year/year +5.9%. Previous was +6.1%.

These are prices for homes purchased with FNMA or FHLMC loans only.

 

S&P Case-Shiller HPI (November 2015)

– 20-city, seasonally adjusted month/month +0.9%. Previous was +0.8%
– 20-city, not seasonally adjusted month/month +0.1%. Previous was +0.1%
– 20-city, not seasonally adjusted year/year +5.8%. Previous was +5.5%.

Because of the large difference between seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted month/month the only useful data I see here is the annual at +5.8%.  We are still in a situation where Housing Starts are low, supply is limited, and prices are moving higher due to relative lack of supply.

In 4 of the 20 cities (Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Portland)  prices are at all time highs.

As to why supply is limited there are several causes: 1)  zoning restrictions and other limitations imposed by local governments 2) tougher mortgage standards imposed by CFPB 3)wage stagnation.

 
PMI Services Flash (January 2016)

– Level 53.7. Previous was 53.7.

This is a supply side metric for the service part of the economy.

 

Consumer Confidence (January 2016)

– Consumer Confidence   98.1. Previous was 96.3.

This is the metric from The Conference Board.  This is supposed to be a leading indicator of

Consumer Spending for the next 6 months.

 

Richmond Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index (January 2016)

– Level 2. Previous was 6.

This metric is derived from a set of indicators coming from a survey of businesses in the area covered by the Richmond Federal Reserve.