Economic Indicators

Pending Home Sales Index
A flat pattern in home sales activity should continue for the next couple months before improving over the summer, according to the latest forecast. The Pending Home Sales Index edged down 1.0 percent to 83.0 from a downwardly revised level of 83.8 in February.
Existing-Home Sales
Existing-home sales were down 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million units in March from a level of 5.03 million in February, and remain 19.3 percent below the 6.11 million-unit pace in March 2007.
New-Home Sales
Posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units in March – a decline of 8.5% from February’s
revised rate of 575,000 units and more than 36% below the rate in March of 2007.
Housing Starts
Posted 947,000 units in March – 11.6% below February’s revised level of 1,075,000 units and 36.5% off the
pace in March of 2007. Current starts are well below the 2 million housing starts during the boom years.
Housing Affordability
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index stood at 130.2 at the end of March – down from the 135.4 level posted for February. The decrease was due primarily to a slight increase (from February to March) in the median sale price of an existing home, as well as an increase in mortgage rates and qualifying income. Still, March’s reading is well above the 113.2 of a year ago.
Mortgage Rates
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched lower in April, averaging 5.92% for the month. Rates still remain
historically low, and recent decisions by the Federal Reserve will likely keep mortgage rates attractive.
Employment
The economy lost 20,000 jobs in April – continuing a job loss trend since the beginning of the year. The good
news is that April’s negative employment number was much milder that those in recent months.
Economic Growth
The economy barely eked out a positive GDP growth number in the first quarter of 2008, posting an anemic 0.6% rate.