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Housing Starts, Purchase Originations 2016, Consumer Spending

October 20, 2015

Tuesday – October 20

Construction on new homes rose in September from August after declines in the two previous months. The Commerce Department reported that September Housing Starts rose 6.5% from August to an annual rate of 1.210 million units, above the 1.150 million expected. The report went on to reveal that single-family starts rose modestly, while there was a 17% increase in multi-family units. However, Building Permits, a sign of future construction, fell 5%.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Tuesday that it forecasts that purchase originations should increase by 10% in 2016 from 2015. However, the MBA sees refinance originations decreasing by one-third in the same time period. The MBA is forecasting purchase originations of $978 billion and refinance originations of $331 billion for a total of $1.31 trillion. “We are projecting that home purchase originations will increase in 2016 as the U.S. housing market continues on its path towards more typical levels of turnover based on steadily rising demand and improvements in the supply of homes for sale and under construction,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.

The National Retail Federation released its Holiday Consumer Spending Survey on Tuesday and expects the average spending per consumer this year will be $805.65, up slightly from 2014’s $802.45. That figure is the highest in the surveys 14-year history and includes food, gifts, decorations and other items. In addition, online purchases will make up 46% of consumer buying, above 2014’s 44.4%. Online retailer Amazon expects to hire 100,000 U.S. workers to handle holiday orders.

YOU Magazine – August 2015

August 07, 2015

YOU Magazine – August 2015

Source: YOU Magazine – August 2015

YOU Magazine – July 2015

July 07, 2015

YOU Magazine – July 2015

Source: YOU Magazine – July 2015

YOU Magazine – June 2015

June 05, 2015

YOU Magazine – June 2015  Enjoy the June Issue of YOU Magazine.  Tips and info for the home and beyond.

Source: YOU Magazine – June 2015

First woman to be the Chairperson…

February 03, 2014

The top spot at the Federal Reserve Bank of the U.S. switches to former Vice Chair Janet Yellen from outgoing Chief Ben Bernanke today. Ms. Yellen is the first woman to be the Chairperson in its 100-year history and will guide the nation through the post recession era of the U.S. economy.
In economic news, the January ISM Manufacturing Index was released this morning and came in lower that expectations at 51.3 versus the 56.0 expected to the slowest pace in 10-months. Within the report it showed that the new orders component fell 13.2 points to 51.2, also the lowest since May. The hiring gauge fell by 3.5 points to 52.3. The decline was due in part to unusually poor weather in January.
The big economic report due for release this week is the January Jobs report, which consists of Non-farm Payrolls and the Unemployment Rate. Payrolls are expected to rise by 175,000, after the weak reading in December of only 74,000 jobs created. The Unemployment Rate is expected is expected to drop to 6.5% from 6.7%. The report will be released Friday at 8:30am ET.