Existing Home Sales Report: September 2015

Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for September showing strong sales with total home sales rising 4.7% since August and climbing 8.8% above the level seen in September 2014.

Single family home sales also increased with sales rising 5.3% from August but and climbing 9.6% above the level seen in September 2014 while the median selling price increased 6.6% above the level seen a year earlier.

Inventory of single family homes decreased from August to 1.96 million units falling 3.0% below the level seen in September 2014 which, along with the sales pace, resulted in a monthly supply of 4.8 months.

The following charts (click for full-screen dynamic version) shows national existing single family home sales, median home prices, inventory and months of supply since 2005.

FHFA Monthly Home Prices: August 2015

Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the latest results of their monthly house price index (HPI) showing that in August, nationally, home prices increased 0.27% from July rising 5.52% above the level seen in August 2014.

The FHFA monthly HPI are formulated from home purchase information collected from mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index: September 2015

The latest release of the Chicago Federal Reserve National Activity Index (CFNAI) indicated that the national economic activity remained weak in September with the index going flat at a level of -0.37 from a level of -0.39 in August while the three month moving average weakened to a level of -0.09.

The CFNAI is a weighted average of 85 indicators of national economic activity collected into four overall categories of “production and income”, “employment, unemployment and income”, “personal consumption and housing” and “sales, orders and inventories”.

The Chicago Fed regards a value of zero for the total index as indicating that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend rate while a negative value indicates below average growth.

A value at or below -0.70 for the three month moving average of the national activity index (CFNAI-MA3) indicates that the national economy has either just entered or continues in recession.

NAHB/Wells Fargo Home Builder Sentiment: October 2015

Today, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released their latest Housing Market Index (HMI) showing that overall assessments of housing activity generally improved in October with the composite HMI index climbing to at 64 while the "buyer traffic" index went flat at a level of 47.