Existing Home Sales – The Daily Tearsheet

Morning Report: Existing home sales fall

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2963	-4.1
Oil (WTI)	34.54	1.19
10 year government bond yield		0.68%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		3.28%

Stocks are flattish this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are up small.

Initial Jobless Claims came in at 2.4 million. which was a touch higher than expectations.

3.6 million Americans were past due on their April mortgage payment according to Black Knight Financial Services. This is the largest number since January 2015. Foreclosure starts and completions were at record lows due to government-imposed moratoriums. Miami, NYC and Las Vegas were the hardest hit cities. Note that sales in NYC are down 61%. I suspect we are going to see a mass exodus to the suburbs after this is over.

The Census Bureau estimates that almost half of all households has lost employment income during the pandemic. States that rely heaviest on tourism like Nevada and Hawaii saw close to 60%.

Existing home sales fell 18% in April, according to NAR. The median home price rose 7.4% YOY. Inventory was down 1.3% from March and down 19.7% from a year ago. “The economic lockdowns – occurring from mid-March through April in most states – have temporarily disrupted home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “But the listings that are on the market are still attracting buyers and boosting home prices.”

The index of leading economic indicators came in at -4.4, better than expected, and an improvement from the March number.

Morning Report: Bond yields flirting with 2016 lows

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	3251	-88.25
Oil (WTI)	51.16	-2.19
10 year government bond yield		1.38%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		3.63%

Stocks are lower this morning on overseas weakness, as investors continue to fret about Coronavirus, which is spreading beyond Asia. Bonds and MBS are up (yields down) on the flight to safety trade.

The 10-year Treasury is trading just off the lows of 2016, where it hit 1.36%. FWIW, that is a modern historical low – long term rates never fell below 2% even in the Great Depression. How low can rates go? The thing about bubbles is that they on longer and further than anyone expects. How many people are talking about a sovereign debt bubble? It hasn’t even registered yet.

Existing Home Sales fell 1.3% MOM in January to an annualized rate of 5.46 million. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, finds the outlook for 2020 home sales promising despite the drop in January. “Existing-home sales are off to a strong start at 5.46 million.” Yun said. “The trend line for housing starts is increasing and showing steady improvement, which should ultimately lead to more home sales.” The median existing home price was $266,300 up 6.8% from a year ago. The first time homebuyer accounted for 32% of sales.

Fannie and Freddie will be freed with “limited and tailored” government backstops, according to US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. SIFMA has warned that removing the explicit government guarantee from Fannie and Freddie’s MBS would have a devastating impact on the market. Remember during the crisis, a trial balloon was floated about removing the government guarantee, and Bill Gross shot it down with a howitzer. No mention was made of what will happen to current stockholders.

Wells agreed to pay $3 billion to settle DOJ and SEC cases over the fake accounts scandal. Whether this will permit the company to begin growing again remains to be seen. The Fed has restricted growth in Well’s balance sheet since 2017.

Morning Report: James Bullard explains his dissent

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	3012.25	5.25
Oil (WTI)	58.67	0.54
10 year government bond yield		1.78%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.00%

Stocks are up this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Existing home sales rose 1.3% in August, according to NAR. Sales are up 2.6% from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million units. The median existing home price rose to $278,200, which was up 4.7%. “Sales are up, but inventory numbers remain low and are thereby pushing up home prices,” said Yun. “Homebuilders need to ramp up new housing, as the failure to increase construction will put home prices in danger of increasing at a faster pace than income.” Inventory did fall to 1.86 million units, which represents a 4.1 month supply. In the “every dog has its day” category, the Northeast led the pack with a 7.6% increase in sales although the median home prices was flat. The Northeast still has a glut of higher priced inventory it needs to work through.

In other economic news, the index of leading economic indicators was flat in August, and initial jobless claims came in at 205,000. The Fed’s balance sheet increased to $3.845 trillion in assets.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard explained his dissent on Wednesday’s FOMC vote. While the Committee ended up easing by 25 basis points, Bullard wanted to cut rates by 50 basis points.

First, there are signs that U.S. economic growth is expected to slow in the near horizon. Trade policy uncertainty remains elevated, U.S. manufacturing already appears in recession, and many estimates of recession probabilities have risen from low to moderate levels. Moreover, the yield curve is inverted, and our policy rate remains above government bond yields for nearly every country in the G-7.

Second, core and headline personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation measures continue to run some 40 to 60 basis points, respectively, below the FOMC’s 2% inflation target. Market-based measures of inflation expectations continue to indicate expected longer-term inflation rates substantially below the Committee’s target. This is occurring despite the 25 basis point cut in July and the 25 basis point cut that was expected for the September meeting. While the unemployment rate is low by historical standards, there is little evidence that low unemployment poses a significant inflation risk in the current environment.

The quote about manufacturing is interesting. Industrial production rose 60 basis points last month and manufacturing production was up 50 bps. Capacity utilization rose 40 basis points as well. We had one reading on the ISM that came in at 49.1, which was technically below 50, where manufacturing is neither contracting nor expanding. For all intents and purposes, it was flat given the inherent error built into these sentiment surveys. Historically, a manufacturing ISM reading of 42 corresponds with an overall recession. FWIW, the ISM reading of 49.1 usually corresponds with a GDP growth rate of 1.8%. In other words, hardly recessionary, and manufacturing represents only about 13% of the US economy to begin with. The statement about G7 rates is probably what is driving things – the Fed is simply following the markets.

Home equity rose 4.8% in the second quarter, or about 428 billion. Negative equity fell by 9%, or about 151,000 homes. The home equity number is a new record, and home equity has doubled since the depths of the housing recession. You can see below which parts of the country still have a negative equity issue to work through.

Morning Report: Existing home sales rise

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2937	8.5
Oil (WTI)	56.34	0.64
10 year government bond yield		1.61%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		3.83%

Stocks are higher this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are down.

The Fed is at Jackson Hole today and tomorrow. There is a chance that they could say something market moving, so just be aware.

Initial Jobless Claims fell to 209,000 last week, while the Markit PMI showed a deceleration. Note the manufacturing PMI fell below 50, which is a sign of contraction.

Existing Home Sales rose 2.5% in July, according to NAR. On a year-over-year basis, sales were up about half a percent. Half a percent isn’t anything to get excited about, however it is the first annual gain in a year and a half. “Falling mortgage rates are improving housing affordability and nudging buyers into the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. However, he added that the supply of affordable housing is severely low. “The shortage of lower-priced homes have markedly pushed up home prices.” The median home price was $280,800 an increase of 4.3% YOY. Since the market bottomed in 2012, homes in the lower-priced half rose at a considerably faster pace than those in the higher priced half. In some areas, they more than doubled off the bottom.

Inventory remains the biggest issue for sales, with only 1.89 million units in inventory, which represents a 4.2 month supply. This is partly why NAR is working with FHA to increase the universe of condos which would qualify for GNMA guarantees. Sales increased everywhere but the Northeast. The first time homebuyer fell to its recent average of 32%, which is lower than the pre-crisis average of about 40%. Despite the continued disappointment in housing, the homebuilder stocks are doing well and the XHB homebuilding ETF is up about 31% this year versus 19% for the S&P 500.

The FOMC minutes were non-eventful, however the statement “Participants generally judged that downside risks to the outlook for economic activity had diminished somewhat since their June meeting.” was a bit of a head-scratcher given they decided to cut rates. Overall, the doves based their arguments on a deceleration in manufacturing, persistently low inflation and risk management. “Several” FOMC members argued against cutting rates, judging the economy “was in a good place” and some worried that lowering the Fed Funds rate would inflate asset prices. Others worried about the signal a rate cut would send to the market’s about the Fed’s perception of the economy. Also, a couple voters wanted to cut rates by 50 basis points.

Morning Report: Existing home sales disappoint, but some internals are better

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2999	-8.5
Oil (WTI)	56.94	0.14
10 year government bond yield		2.05%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.06%

Stocks are lower this morning as earnings continue to come in. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Today is a big day for earnings, with numbers coming out for Ford, Boeing, Caterpillar, Facebook, and Tesla.

House prices rose 0.1% in May, according to the FHFA House Price Index. They were up 5% on a YOY basis. Home price appreciation has been decelerating across the board, but it is most pronounced in the Pacific and Mountain regions.

Mortgage Applications fell by 2% last week as purchases and refis fell by the same amount. This was despite a 4 basis point drop in rates.

Existing Home Sales fell 1.7% in June, according to NAR. “Home sales are running at a pace similar to 2015 levels – even with exceptionally low mortgage rates, a record number of jobs and a record high net worth in the country,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Yun says the nation is in the midst of a housing shortage and much more inventory is needed. “Imbalance persists for mid-to-lower priced homes with solid demand and insufficient supply, which is consequently pushing up home prices,” he said.

Inventory was 1.93 million units, which represents a 4.4 month supply. Historically a balanced market had 6 – 6.5 months’ worth of supply. As Yun notes above, there is a big mismatch in inventory, with a complete dearth of properties at the low / mid price points. McMansions abound, however. Despite these issues, the first time homebuyer accounted for 35% of sales in June, which is approaching the historical norm of 40%. The first time homebuyer had been largely MIA for most of the post-crisis timeframe, accounting for 30% of sales (or even less). On the flip side, investors (represented by all cash sales) fell to 10%. With home price appreciation leveling out, we may start to see some funds who raised capital for the REO-to-Rental trade in the aftermath of the crisis ring the register and sell some of these properties as the funds wind down. Certainly cap rates are not what they were 10 years ago.

The median home price reached an all-time high of 285,700. Sentier Research has the median income at $63,400 as of May 2019. This puts the median house price to median income rate at just about 4.5x. Historically this is a very high number, however it is important to note that interest rates will influence this number. If you look at other metrics besides incomes and prices, homes are not that expensive on a historical basis.

Morning Report: US bond yields anchored by creeping Eurosclerosis.

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2859	-7
Oil (WTI)	62.65	-0.48
10 year government bond yield		2.43%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.41%

Stocks are lower this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are flat.

The MBA Secondary Conference was held in NYC on Monday and Tuesday, and it seemed (at least to me) to be much more sparsely attended than in prior years. The most obvious example was the HUB or the conference floor, where there were about half the number of booths. You could see it in the major sessions, where the seats were maybe 25% taken. Of course the secondary conference is largely an off-site event where people go to the various hotels around Times Square for meetings, but it definitely looks like traffic was down this year.

The big topic was growth and how to achieve it. Generally speaking most originators were focusing on non-QM as well as renovation loans as the best way to drive growth. Mergers were also mentioned as a way to increase volume. Mohammed El-Arian forecasted that rates will go nowhere in the near future, anchored by negative rates in Europe. The German Bund is trading at a negative yield of 8 basis points (in other words you have to pay for the privilege of lending to the German government), and many money managers prefer to invest in positive-yielding US Treasuries and roll the dice on the currency risk than to lock in a sure loss in German Bunds. He also doesn’t see any sort of recession for at least the next two years unless a massive trade war breaks out internationally. You can see the creeping Eurosclerosis in the chart of the Bund yield below:

The Trump Administration is vetting Judy Shelton to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. She is currently on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which means she has already been through part of the confirmation process. She is in favor of keeping interest rates low, and has criticized the Fed’s methodology for setting the Fed Funds rate.

Existing home sales fell in April, according to NAR. They were down 4.4% from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million. The median home price rose to 267,300 which is a 3.6% increase from a year ago. Inventory rose as well, to 1.83 million units, which represents a 4.2 month supply. Historically, 6 months would have been considered a balanced market, and we also have a mismatch between price points, where there is a glut of luxury properties and a shortage of entry-level homes. Days on market declined however to 24 days. “I think the market had a bit of a slow start in the Fall, but Realtors® all over the country have been telling me that April was a nice rebound. We’re hopeful and expect that this will continue heading into the summer,” said NAR President John Smaby, a second-generation Realtor® from Edina, Minnesota and broker at Edina Realty. “Homes over the last month sold quickly, which is not only a win-win for buyers and sellers, but it’s also great for the real estate industry.”

The mismatch between supply and demand is translating into more boomer empty-nesters staying in their homes. Trulia believes this is a matter of choice, but it may simply be the fact that there is not much demand for those 3,500 square foot homes. The demand is at the lower sizes and price points.

Mortgage applications rose 2.4% last week as purchases fell 2.4% and refis rose 8.3%. The average contract interest rate fell 7 basis points to 4.33%.

Morning Report: Existing home sales fall

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2641	9.75
Eurostoxx index	356.16	1.08
Oil (WTI)	52.77	-1.03
10 year government bond yield		2.76%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.48%

Stocks are higher this morning as earnings reports continue to come in. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Mortgage applications fell 2.7% last week as purchases fell 2% and refis fell 5%. This was a bit of a give-back after a torrid start to the year. Rates were more or less unchanged, and the unadjusted purchase index was close to a 9 year high. Still, it is encouraging to see activity picking up ahead of the Spring Selling Season, which is just around the corner.

Existing Home Sales fell 6.4% in December according to NAR. The seasonally adjusted annual number comes out to 5 million, which is down 10% YOY. The median house price rose 3% to $253,600 and inventory fell to 1.55 million units, down from 1.74 million in November. At current rates, it represents a 3.6 month supply, which is an increase from 3.2 month’s worth in November. Days on market increased to 46 days, up from 42 in November and 40 a year ago. While the 30 year fixed rate mortgage fell from 4.87% in November to 4.64% in December, these sales would represent transactions done under a higher interest rate regime – the drop in rates will probably be reflected in January data. There is still quite the mismatch between what is available for sale – largely luxury properties – and what is needed, which is entry-level housing. The first time homebuyer still represents about 32% of all sales – historically that number has been closer to 40%. The Northeast and the Midwest experienced the biggest drops in sales.

The Senate will vote on a plan to open government – wall funding in exchange for temporary protection for Dreamers. The Democrats have declared this a non-starter, but we’ll see how close this comes to passing. The Democrats have their own bill in the Senate which doesn’t include wall funding and is also unlikely to pass. The big question concerns what Trump will actually sign.

Non-traditional mortgages are making a comeback, after a long slumber. Originations for these types of products – bank statement loans and the like – increased 24% in 2018, however their share of the total mortgage market is still extremely small, around 3%. Investor demand for these products is picking up as well – securitizations quadrupled last year to $12 billion. While these loans are a far cry from the neg-am NINJA loans of the bubble years, regulators and affordable housing advocates are fretting over these loans.

New home sales fell 16% in 4 of the largest markets to close out the year, according to Redfin. Higher mortgage rates and tax issues are depressing sales in some of the pricier markets. Look for homebuilders to face a squeeze as well as rising input prices and slower price growth depress margins. Builders may have to concentrate on building lots of lower-priced entry level units, which is exactly where the demand is.

Morning Report: The Fed raises rates

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2511	6.5
Eurostoxx index	339.04	-2.44
Oil (WTI)	47.96	1.72
10 year government bond yield		2.77%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.60%

Stocks are higher this morning after the Fed hiked rates. Bonds and MBS are flat.

As expected, the Fed hiked rates 25 basis points yesterday. The vote was unanimous, and the statement was pretty bland. The forecasts were tweaked slightly, but nothing major. The biggest change was in the dot plot, which basically removed one tightening from 2019’s forecast. The left plot is September, while the right one is December. Note that the dispersion has decreased as well.

Bonds took the tightening favorably, while stocks used it as an excuse to sell off. The initial head fake in the bond market was intense, with 2.86% printing before falling below 2.80 and eventually to 2.76%. MBS spreads widened considerably before settling in. The press conference was uneventful, with Powell dodging questions about Trump and the Central Bank’s independence while stressing that the economy is extremely strong right now and it made sense to raise rates. He also said that the Fed Funds rate is now at the lower end of the neutral range and the Fed has no intentions of deviating from its pace of balance sheet reduction.

Existing home sales rose 1.9% in November, for a second straight month. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says two consecutive months of increases is a welcomed sign for the market. “The market conditions in November were mixed, with good signs of stabilizing home sales compared to recent months, though down significantly from one year ago. Rising inventory is clearly taming home price appreciation.” The median home price rose 4.2% to $257,700, while inventory fell to 1.74 million. This represents a 3.9 month supply, which is well below what would be considered an equilibrium market. “A marked shift is occurring in the West region, with much lower sales and very soft price growth,” says Yun. “It is also the West region where consumers have expressed the weakest sentiment about home buying, largely due to lack of affordable housing inventory.” I wonder if Chinese money is exiting the area as their economy slows and you start seeing credit issues there. Finally, days on market rose to 42 and the first time homebuyer accounted for 33% of sales.

The Senate passed a stopgap spending measure which would fund the government through February. No word on whether the House will go along, but it certainly looks like any sort of shutdown over the holiday period isn’t going to happen.

Morning Report: Existing home sales disappoint again

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2777.25	9.25
Eurostoxx index	362.75	1.51
Oil (WTI)	69.26	0.14
10 year government bond yield		3.20%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.93%

Stocks are higher this morning after Chinese and Italian markets rallied on benign political comments. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Existing home sales fell 3.4% in September, according to NAR. Pretty much every part of the country saw a decline. Rising rates are affecting affordability and this is dampening sales. That said, the median home price did still rise 4.2% to 258k. Inventory improved a hair, increasing to 4.4 months’ worth from 4.2 months worth in August. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says rising interest rates have led to a decline in sales across all regions of the country. “This is the lowest existing home sales level since November 2015,” he said. “A decade’s high mortgage rates are preventing consumers from making quick decisions on home purchases. All the while, affordable home listings remain low, continuing to spur underperforming sales activity across the country.” Days on market rose to 32 days, and the first time homebuyer accounted for 32% of sales. Historically that number has been closer to 40%.

Refis dipped to 29% of all originations in September, according to the Ellie Mae Origination Insight report. As rates rise, you are seeing an increase in ARM origination, which rose to 7.2%. Credit quality also ticked up, with the average FICO rising to 727.

Bank of America is teaming up with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) to offer no-downpayment, no MI, below market rate mortgage loans to people with bad credit. BOA has promised to allocate $10 billion in mortgage credit to the program. The only requirements are the home has to be owner-occupied, and the borrower has to go through a counseling process where they learn about budgeting and getting the required documents in. The company is betting that borrowers will act like they have skin in the game, even if they don’t have any equity in the home. So far, no foreclosures in the past 6 years (which corresponds to the bottom of the real estate market. Not sure why Bank of America is hot to lend money at below market rates to uninsured low FICO borrowers without a down payment, but I suspect they are doing it for the PR or to keep the fair lending types off their back.

With the bankruptcy of Sears, and the latest housing starts data, it is interesting to look back on the company’s involvement in homebuilding. Yes, you could order a house via the Sears catalog. The heyday of the movement was the early 20th century – between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold about 75,000 kit homes. Prices were anywhere from $1,200 to $5,000 for 10 room quasi-mansions.

Morning Report: Existing home sales flat

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2926	11.5
Eurostoxx index	382.7	2.72
Oil (WTI)	71.58	0.46
10 year government bond yield		3.09%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.86%

Stocks are higher this morning after China agreed to cut some tariffs. Bonds and MBS are getting slammed.

Bond yields are up 27 basis points over the past month. Not sure what is driving that (at least nothing specific), but it is a worldwide phenomenon. Bunds and JGBs have also been selling off, though not as dramatically. The Fed funds futures have become more hawkish over the same period, raising the probability of a Dec hike from 63% to 87%. This has certainly stopped the flood of hand-wringing stories in the business press about the flattening yield curve.

Initial Jobless Claims hit a 50 year low, and are within striking distance of the 200,000 level. Meanwhile, the Index of Leading Economic Indicators took a step back in August, rising 0.4% after July’s torrid 0.6% growth. Still strong numbers, however.

Consumer comfort rose to a 17 year high, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index (highest since Jan 2001).

One reason why consumption has been strong is growing home equity, which rose almost a trillion YOY in the second quarter. This is an increase of 12.3%. The number of homes with negative equity fell by half a million to 2.2 million, or about 4.3% of all mortgaged homes. On average, the typical homeowner saw a $16,200 increase in housing wealth. Only 3 states: North Dakota, Connecticut, and Louisiana saw declines.

Existing home sales remained flat in August, according to NAR. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the decline in existing home sales appears to have hit a plateau with robust regional sales. “Strong gains in the Northeast and a moderate uptick in the Midwest helped to balance out any losses in the South and West, halting months of downward momentum,” he said. “With inventory stabilizing and modestly rising, buyers appear ready to step back into the market.” The median house price was $264,800, up 4.6% YOY. Inventory is still tight, at 4.1 month’s worth, and days on market ticked up slightly to 29 days. First time homebuyers accounted for 31% of sales. Historically, that number has been closer to 40%.

Closing rates jumped across the board to 71.7%, according to Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report. Average FICOs were 724, and average LTV was 79%. Both those numbers are more or less unchanged YOY. It typically took 43 days to close a loan.

When is the best time of year to buy a home? It depends. Prices do decline however during the winter, with purchases in January and February 8.5% cheaper than the peak summer months. Even in Autumn, they fall 3%. So, don’t get too depressed about your Z-scores during the winter months. It could be just seasonality.