Mike Simonsen at Altos is out with a great report today highlighting some of the weakness in the US housing market.
That’s not a huge surprise because US 30-year fixed rates remain around 6.9% but it’s an under-appreciated risk in the US economy.
Some stats:
- Immediate sales down 30%y/y
- 27.8% more homes available now than last year.
- 57,000 new contracts for single family homes this week. That’s 5% fewer than the same week a year ago
Now I’m cherry picking a bit here as there are some solid signs as well and inventories are still below pre-pandemic levels but there is little help coming from the Fed so I certainly don’t see much upside risk from housing. I’d also note that 17% of mortgage holders are now paying more than 6%, which has to be painful given 2.8% rates during the pandemic.
This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.
