gdp: What Is Going On With Mortgage Applications For Home Purchases? - 09/17/12 09:47 PM
 
The Mortgage Brokers Association (MBA) Report that tracks mortgage loan application has been reporting declining numbers in mortgage application from mid July throughout the month of August. This has been despite the fact that mortgage rates have been at an all time low and reports in recent months have been optimistic that the housing market could be on its way up. The Wall Street Journal reported that “Purchase applications declined 5.3% in August, evidence that mortgage dependent buyers are barely contributing to the recovery in the housing market.”
In other related news, Redfin, the technology-powered real estate broker, in the … (0 comments)

gdp: Why Construction Spending Matters - 09/06/12 11:15 PM
 
Did you hear the news about construction spending?  If so, were you surprised? 
The recent report by the Commerce Department did come as a surprise to many who have been eagerly watching for signs of a sustained recovery in the real estate industry. Construction spending dropped 0.9 percent to an annual rate of $834.4 billion; this was the biggest decline in a while. In an earlier survey by Reuters, economists expected construction spending to rise by 0.4% again.
The July construction report, released on Tuesday, showed total private residential construction spending fell by 1.6%, even though new single- and … (1 comments)

gdp: Growth forecasted in Housing, even if increase is only modest in size..... - 02/08/12 03:40 PM
Growth forecasted in housing, even if increase is only modest in size.
Based on a Bank of American Merrill Lynch report, analysts forecast housing starts to average 710,000 per quarter, a 15% gain from 2011 when starts averaged about 620,000. The gain should translate to a 5% increase in residential investment — double that of GDP growth forecasts.
The Fed (Federal Reserve) has estimated that United States GDP will grow between 2.2%  to  2.7% this year.  Based on BofAML's forecast, because residential investment only makes up a 2.2% share of the economy, it will only add 0.1% of growth to 2012 … (4 comments)