Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Nela Richardson, Chief Economist with Redfin.
Read More »Ask the Economist: The Fed Raising Rates Will Likely Not Immediately Affect Housing
Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Curt Long, Chief Economist with the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU).
Read More »Weak Q3 GDP Growth Not Expected to Weigh Down Housing
However, the decline in GDP growth coincides with a drop in a couple of key housing indicators for September. Thursday’s announcement of 1.5 GDP growth came the same day as the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index for September, which was reported to be at its lowest level in eight months.
Read More »GDP Growth Revised Up to 3.9 Percent for Final Q2 Estimate
In the second estimate for Q2 released in August, real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent; in the "advance estimate" released at the end of July, it grew at a rate of 2.3 percent. In the third and final estimate for Q1, GDP growth was a mere 0.6 percent, way below expectations.
Read More »Economic Growth Expected to Slow Down As Unemployment Stays Level
The Philadelphia Fed reported that the labor market outlook remains unchanged. The forecasters predicted similar results as the last survey for unemployment, noting that it will be an annual average of 5.3 percent in 2015, before falling to 5.0 percent in 2016, 4.8 percent in 2017, and 4.7 percent in 2018.
Read More »GDP Growth Substantially Improves in ‘Advance’ Q2 Estimate
The nation's real gross domestic product (GDP) bounced back from a dismal first quarter with an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent in the "advance" estimate for Q2 released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
Read More »GDP Contracts in Final Q1 Estimate, But Majority of Lenders Remain Optimistic
According to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for May 2015 released earlier this week, the majority of mortgage lenders (61 percent) believe that the economy is on the right track, while 29 percent said they believed it was on the wrong track.
Read More »Economic Growth Slows as GDP Expansion for Q4 Falls Short of Economists’ Predictions
According to BEA, the slowdown mostly came from a rise in imports coupled with a decline in exports, a downturn in government spending, and decelerations in nonresidential fixed investment. Those weaknesses were offset by an upturn in private inventory investment and a pickup in consumer spending as falling gas prices left Americans with more discretionary income.
Read More »Fannie Mae Expects Economy to ‘Drag’ Housing Toward Recovery in 2015
While that prediction is still modest, Fannie Mae says it's strong enough to "drag last year's unspectacular housing activity upward," according to the report. Fannie Mae credits projections for continued low gasoline prices, firming labor market conditions, rising household net worth, improving consumer and business confidence, and reduced fiscal headwinds to usher in a year of steady, if "not yet robust" economic improvement that should lead to a higher rate of household formation in 2015.
Read More »Q3 GDP Revision Pushes Economy to Fastest Growth in a Decade
According to BEA, the latest quarterly estimate includes improved contributions from consumer spending, which is now estimated to have increased 3.2 percent compared to Q2's 2.5 percent gain. Also improved in the third report was the contribution from nonresidential fixed investment, which increased 8.9 percent. Residential fixed investment—a measure of the housing market's direct contribution to economic activity—increased just 3.2 percent.
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