New Home Sales September

 

 

September new home sales jumped 5.7% to 389,000, up from the August level of 368,000. This marks the highest pace for new home sales since April 2010, during the first-time homebuyer tax credit. The new home supply dropped from 4.7 months i...

n August to 4.5 months for September.

The New Home Sales report shows the number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale during the month. It is compiled through nationwide survey of 10,000 builders/owners of 15,000 building projects and through sampling of permit-issuing offices, as well as land not covered by building permits. The data is timely and is used in conjunction with the existing home sales release from the National Association of Realtors. The level of new home sales indicates housing market trends, and economic momentum signaling consumer purchases of furniture and appliances. Simply, the volume of sales indicates housing demand.

September State By State Unemployment Rate

 

 

 

For September, 41 states plus the District of Columbia saw unemployment rate decreases. Year-over-year, 44 states plus the District of Columbia had decreases. Nevada reported the highest level of unemployment at 11.8%, with Rhode Island and California also in the top 3. Meanwhile, North Dakota posted the lowest rate at 3.0%.

Unemployment Sees Unexplained Big Drop?

Well, since it is election time, let's get your political juices flowing. How did the latest unemployment number drop SIGNIFICANTLY from 8.1% to 7.8%? So, there could be two answers to the question one of which is factual and one that has a flavor of conspiracy as stated by Jack Welsh, probably the greatest CEO in history. Welsh says that the numbers have been cooked by the administration prior to the election. If a minimum of 150K jobs must be created to keep pace with new people just entering the workforce how can a report indicating only 114K jobs created make the unemployment number go down? The factual answer is that the participation rate is the lowest it has been in 31 years and means more people have given up and stopped looking for work and then are no longer counted in the unemployment report. So, when you see that the unemployment rate dropped, keep in mind that it dropped for a VERY bad reason!

 

Former CEO Jack Welsh says white house manipulates jobs data.

Good News For Home Values

 

Home prices in the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite increased 1.6% from June to July. This is the third consecutive month that all 20 cities recorded increases. Year-over-year the 20-city composite index is up 1.2% and 16 of the 20 cities hav...

e seen yearly increases. See the chart to see how good your area is doing.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are published on the last Tuesday of each month at 9:00 am ET. They are constructed to accurately track the price path of typical single-family homes located in each metropolitan area provided.

Unemployment State by State

 

Unemployment rates for August increased in 26 states, decreased in 12 states, and 12 states remained the same from July. Year-over-year 42 states and the District of Columbia posted unemployment rate decreases. From July, the national unemployment rate dropped to 8.1%, and was 1.0% lower than August 2011.

Because Housing and Jobs are so closely related, it is important to watch for changing trends in the Unemployment level.

Home Sales Volume And Prices Are Increasing

  

 

Great News! Existing home sales for August increased 7.8% to 4.82 million homes. This is up from 4.47 million homes in July. This represents the most homes sold since the homebuyer tax credit expired in 2010.

Existing Home Sales is a measu...

re of the selling rate of pre-owned single-family homes, collected by the National Association of Realtors from 650 realtor associations. The data is timely and is used in conjunction with the new home sales release from the Census Bureau. Sales of existing (or pre-owned) houses account for roughly 84% of all houses sold. Sales of new houses account for the other 16%. Simply, the volume of sales indicates housing demand.

 

Real Median Income

 

Real median income decreased 1.5% in 2011 to $50,054, down from $50,831 in 2010. The 2011 real median household income was 8.1 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession, and was 8.9 percent lower than the median ...

household income peak that occurred in 1999.

Meanwhile, 46.2 million people were in poverty in 2011, a 15% poverty rate. Though down slightly from 15.1% in 2010, the poverty rate remains high.