The July 10, 2014 edition of Eye on Economy from www.eyeonhousing.org A Biweekly Review of the Housing Economy

1. Eye on Economy
Home Sales Surge after Slow First Quarter
July 10, 2014
www.eyeonhousing.org

2. Home sales posted the biggest
month-over-month increase in
four years
Pending Home Sales Index increased
6.1% in May
PHSI increased in all regions of the
country
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3. Existing Sales Rebound
Healthy increase in existing home sales
All four regions increased
Total housing inventory increased
Distressed sales dropped to 11%
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4. First quarter continued to
disappoint as the Bureau of
Economic Analysis released its
third estimate of real GDP
Real GDP contracted 2.9% (seasonally
adjusted)
Largely due to declining:
Inventories
Exports
Fixed Investments
Housing contributed 15.6% to Real
GDP
Expected to grow in second quarter
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5. Latest estimate of Residential
Construction Spending shows
slight decrease
In May, private residential spending fell
1.5%
Was up 7.5% from May 2013
Three-month spending average basis:
Single-family — up 12.3%
Multi-family — up 33%
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6. The employment situation
improved
Growth in:
Professional & Business Services
Retail
Healthcare
Payroll employment grew 288,000
June unemployment fell to 6.1%
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7. Improvements in labor market
are reflected in recent gains in
consumer confidence
Consumer Confidence Index reached
highest score since January 2008
Rose three points to 85.2
Improved from prior month
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8. Builders remain cautious due to
supply constraints including a
persistent shortage of labor
Acute shortage of carpenters
Shortage of framing crews
Volatility in employment in specialty
trades
Multi-employee companies —
decreased 19.4%
One-person firms — declined 3.7%
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9. McGraw Hill Construction
surveyed NAHB members about
green building
Single-family & Multi-family asked
about cost and prevalence of green
building
More than 15% of projects are green
Due to increasing consumer interest
Incremental cost to construct green
homes was 8% in 2013
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