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02 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's gospel the people ask Jesus for a sign they can "see and believe in." Beleaguered homeowners and businesses waiting for a sign that recovery in the troubled housing market is near may have received it: The U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday that new home sales in the U.S. rose in June by the largest amount in more than eight years. The report is another encouraging indicator that the beleaguered housing sector is finally coming back to life. Last Thursday the National Association of Realtors said that home resales posted a monthly increase of 3.6 percent in June. Along with greater numbers of houses selling, the rate of home price deterioration has slowed and in some places leveled off, according to the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. The index, which tracks home prices in 20 metropolitan areas, rose 0.5 percent for the three-month period ending in May, compared with the three months ending in April. It marked the index's first increase after 34 straight months of decline. The home-sale numbers surprised Robert Shiller, the Yale University economist who helped create the Case-Shiller indexes. "The change in momentum here is very significant," he said. Shiller expects home prices to remain at current levels over the next five years, possibly declining a little further before bouncing back. Fallout from the housing crisis has played a central role in the U.S. recession, now the longest since World War II. Foreclosures have spiked, homebuilders have slashed construction, and financial companies have lost billions. Source: Articles by Nick Timiraos and Kelly Evans for the Wall Street Journal and Alan Zibel for Associated Press

recession housing housing market commerce department home sales national association of realtors standard poors case-shiller home price index robert shiller

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The hopes and fears of all the year

27 Dec 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light," proclaims the reading from the Book of Isaiah for the Nativity of the Lord Mass at Midnight. The struggling economy and the toll in human suffering it has exacted head up many lists of the "top ten" news stories for the year. Though the prognosis has been rather dark and gloomy most of 2009, rays of light have broken through, especially recently. Despite a $787 billion federal stimulus package, much of the U.S. economy continued to sputter throughout the first half of the year. The jobless rate topped 10 percent, scores of banks failed, the federal deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion, and stocks fell to their lowest levels since 1997 before rallying. Yet investment banks' profits surged, triggering public anger and efforts in Washington to crack down on Wall Street bonuses. The economy was among the major stories of the year for religious institutions, too, as the recession forced cutbacks at a great variety of faith-related organizations—denominations, houses of worship, relief agencies, colleges and seminaries, and publishing houses, among others. The bleakness of the first half of the year has gradually given way to a more hopeful, if still mixed, prognosis. The economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, ending a record for straight quarters of decline. That signaled that the deepest and longest recession since the 1930s had ended and the economy had entered a new delicate phase of recovery. Signs suggest the economy will end the year on a stronger footing. Growth is expected to be at or near 4 percent in the October-to-December quarter. That would mark the strongest showing since the first quarter of 2006—well before the recession began. Home resales surged in November to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the brink of collapse. Sales of new homes plunged unexpectedly, however, providing greater evidence that economy recovery is fragile at year-end.

recession economy home sales

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Housing starts stall again

02 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Have no anxiety at all,” counsels Saint Paul in the Letter to the Philippians this Sunday, encouraging us to make our requests known to God “by prayer and petition.” The faith of home-builders and construction workers is being tested this week with news that sales of new U.S. homes fell to a six-month low in August. The fourth straight monthly decline during the peak buying season suggests the housing market is years away from a recovery. New-home sales are down nearly 80 percent from their peak in July 2005. They remain far below healthy levels, which would be more than double August's rate. "With job growth at a standstill, the stock market swinging wildly, Congress wrangling over the debt ceiling, and the euro zone's problems sending consumer confidence down, sales of new homes are slipping from an already weak pace," Celia Chen, director of housing economics at Moody's Analytics, wrote in a note to clients. Patrick Newport, U.S. economist with IHS Global Insight, said the trend for new home sales has been flat for the last 16 months. "This year is shaping up to be the worst year on record for new home sales," Newport wrote. The median sales price of a new home, which is the point at which half the new homes sold for more and half for less, fell nearly 9 percent to $209,100 in August. The steep drop in prices indicates that builders are struggling to attract buyers away from even cheaper so-called distressed properties, which are homes that are foreclosures or have borrowers in default. Sources: Articles by Alan Zibel and Jeff Bater for the Wall Street Journal and Alejandro Lazo for the Los Angeles Times

housing market home sales

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Extreme makeover, housing market edition

23 Sep 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday the psalmist sings the praises of the Lord who “sustains my life,” the God who “is my helper.” A jump in sales of previously owned homes to the highest level in more than two years, as well as an uptick in new home construction, are helping sustain a recovery in the long-beleaguered housing market, new data indicate.Sales of previously occupied homes rose 7.8 percent in August, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That's the highest level since May, 2010, when a federal home-buying tax credit aided sales.“Today's data are another indication of improvement in the U.S. housing market which, for really the first time post-recession, is becoming a positive for economic growth,” said Andrew Grantham, an economist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto.At the same time builders broke ground on 2.3 percent more homes and apartments in August than July. The U.S. Commerce Department said the best rate of single-family home construction since April, 2010 drove the increase.The pair of reports comes amid other signs of steady progress in the housing market after years of stagnation. New-home sales are up, builder confidence is at its highest level in more than six years, and increases in home prices appear to be sustainable."The U.S. housing recovery is for real," said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "Great affordability, pent-up demand, and strong investor interest in rental units are driving the market." Sources: Articles by Christopher S. Rugaber and Martinn Crutsinger for theAssociated Press and Lucia Mutikani and Jason Lange for Reuters

housing market national association of realtors andrew grantham new home sales previously owned homes sal guatieri

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