Housing Remains in a Soft Patch
|U.S. Review
Housing Remains in a Soft Patch
- Housing starts rose 9.2% in August. Volatile multifamily starts increased 29.3%, while single-family units rose 1.9%. Building permits dropped 5.7% during the month.
- Existing home sales were unchanged at a 5.34-million unit annual pace in August. The total inventory of available homes was also unchanged at 1.92 million homes. The median price of an existing home rose 4.6% year-over-year.
- The Leading Economic Index climbed 0.4% in August, further evidence that economic growth should remain solid in the second half of 2018.
Global Review
Firmer Global Growth to Be a Gradual Process
- This week’s global data were mixed. The Eurozone services PMI rose in September but the manufacturing PMI fell, while in the U.K., August CPI inflation and retail sales were both firmer over the month. Signs of global growth improvement remain gradual, and we still look for ECB and Bank of England policy rates to remain steady for some time.
- This week saw some central bank monetary policy announcements, but limited action. Norway’s central bank hiked interest rates in response to firmer growth and inflation. The Swiss central bank kept interest rates in negative territory, while the Bank of Japan held monetary policy unchanged.
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