Check out the latest from the respected Economists of the National Association of Home Builders. Click the link at the end of the paragraph for a detailed report.
U.S. Economic Growth Gets Revised Down for Late Last Year
As we expected, growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) for the final quarter of 2008 has been revised down substantially by the Commerce Department – from an annual rate of -3.8% in the “advance” report to -6.2% in the “preliminary” report. The revised number is the sharpest quarterly contraction since the depths of the 1982 recession. (Details)
Another Stock Market Debacle Deepens Economic Problems Early This Year
The stock market apparently had hit bottom early last November, and the market managed to stage a modest recovery over the balance of 2008. But then the equity market took another major leg downward, carving another $2 trillion from household net worth and decimating the attitudes of consumers, businesses and financial market participants alike. (Details)
Labor Market Deterioration Has Picked Up Steam
The current recession began at the end of 2007 when the job market started to lose ground, and the labor market has been deteriorating rapidly through February. According to the latest figures, nonfarm payroll employment has declined by 4.4 million since the recession began, and more than half of that decline, 2.6 million, has occurred during the last four months. (Details)
Home Sales Should Be Stabilizing Soon
Large cumulative declines in home prices in many areas, combined with attractive interest rates on prime conventional conforming fixed-rate mortgages (saleable to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) and an FHA/VA loans, have generated substantial improvements in housing affordability measures even as the deepening recession has taken a toll on median household income. (Details)
Everything Now Depends on the Strength of Economic Policy
The economy recently has gone from bad to worse, despite a variety of economic policy supports put in place late last year. The fate of the economy and the housing sector now depend very heavily on the strength of President Obama’s three-legged policy stool, along with complementary monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve. Policy actions by foreign governments also will be part of the policy puzzle. (Details)