Auto sales took a dive in June with the top three American automakers reporting sliding sales and foreign automakers reporting mixed results. Ford Motor Co. sales fell 5.1 percent year-over-year, while GM sales slipped 4.7 percent. FCA USA sales plunged 7 percent, in part due to a planned reduction in sales to its rental operation. […]
Low housing inventory continues to drive up home prices for U.S. consumers. The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index reported an annual gain of 5.5 percent in April, down from 5.6 percent in March. The 20-City Index increased 5.7 percent year-over-year compared to the previous month. The gains in April were slightly lower […]
New home sales in May rebounded after an April decline to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000, an increase of 2.9 percent. Median sales price increased to $345,800 and the average sales price was $406,400. Median sales price reached a record high, up 16.6 percent from a year ago. Inventory at the end of […]
Existing home sales climbed 1.1 percent in May, reports the National Association of Realtors. Sales rebounded to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.62 million from a downwardly revised 5.56 million in April. May sales are 2.7 percent higher than a year ago and at the third highest level for the past year. Low inventory […]
Vehicle sales in the U.S. averaged 17.1 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) per month in the first five months of 2017, down from 18.1 million in Q4 2016. March, April and May sales were each below 17.0 million units SAAR for the first time since June last year. In May, light […]
Housing starts dipped 5.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,092,000, from April’s revised estimate of 1,156,000, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. Single family starts dropped 3.9 percent, while starts for buildings with five or more units fell 9.8 percent. Regionally, total starts were flat in the Northeast and […]
Below is the latest data release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through April 2017. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for April 2017 decreased 3.9 […]
April data for Construction Put in Place (CPIP) was released by the Department of Commerce on Thursday June 1st 2017. Total construction still has positive growth but slowed to 2.5 percent year/year in the latest three months of data. Privately funded projects are the growth engine as state and local and infrastructure both had negative […]
U.S. automotive sales in May are in reach of the 1.52 million units forecast by Edmunds and WardsAuto. WardsAuto is reporting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.6 million for the month, just shy of its forecast for 16.8 million. Flat sales for the month would be welcomed by auto manufacturers that have seen sales […]
Home prices continued to rise in March, setting a 33-month high, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The Index gained 5.8 percent in March, up from a 5.7 percent annual gain in February. The 10- and 20-City Composite year-over-year indices were unchanged from the previous month with 5.2 […]
Existing home sales dipped 2.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 1.6 percent higher than in April 2016. Existing home inventory increased by 7.2 percent to 1.93 million in April, representing a 4.2 month supply at the current sales pace. […]
Sales of new single-family homes in April fell 11.4 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 569,000, according to the Commerce Department. Sales were up 0.5 percent from the same month in 2016. The steep slide was unexpected following the ten year high of revised March sales of 642,000. Ian Shepherdson, chief […]
Vehicle sales improved slightly from the previous month, but they were slower compared with the first quarter average and year-ago numbers. According to J.D. Power, incentive spending in April averaged about $3,500 per new vehicle—or approximately 10 percent of the average transaction price—which surpasses the previous peak for the month of April in 2009. Furthermore, inventories […]
U.S. auto manufacturers are tightening their belts as automotive sales fall from their two year highs. Ford Motor Co. said it will cut 1,400 salaried jobs in North America and Asia through voluntary retirement as shares of stock dropped 2.5 percent on Wednesday. Ford will offer financial incentives and generous retirement packages to encourage managers […]
Housing starts surprised economists by moving lower in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000. April’s tally is 2.6 percent below the March estimate of 1,203,000 but 0.7 percent higher than a year ago. Projections were for starts to reach 1.26 million in April. Starts increased 41.1 percent in the Midwest and 5.4 […]
Below is the latest data release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through March 2017. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for March 2017 increased 12.5 […]
Construction has expanded in the U.S. for over 30 quarters, and it still has legs, said Alex Carrick, Chief Economist at ConstructConnect. ConstructConnect presented a webinar May 11, entitled “Bump or Slump? 2017 Prospects for Design & Construction. AIA chief economist Kermit Baker and AGC of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson joined Carrick in discussing […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) spoke with many trading companies over the past few days about concerns their companies might have with the status of the industry and efforts to stop foreign steel from entering the country. “The trading companies are not the bad guy here,” is what one trading executive said to us late this […]
The Dodge Momentum Index slipped 5.1 percentage points in April to a reading of 133.8. Institutional planning fell 12 percent while commercial construction planning gained only 0.1 percent. Dodge Data & Analytics sees April’s decline as part of a sawtooth pattern that has been prevalent since early 2016. Said Dodge regarding the April findings, “Despite […]
In summary, the March CPIP data released on May 1st, yielded mixed results. Private expenditures recorded overall growth with the exception of manufacturing, transportation and religious structures. However, State & Local and Infrastructure spending continued to contract. Data in this report is not seasonally adjusted or corrected for inflation. At SMU we analyze the CPIP […]
Despite incentives, U.S. automotive sales dipped in April with almost all brands showing declines year-ove- year. Of the Big Three Detroit manufacturers, Ford had the worst results, down 7.2 percent to 214,695 for the month. FCA USA posted sales of 177,441, down 6.6 percent and GM had sales of 244,406, down 5.8 percent. Slower sales […]
The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reached a 32 month high in February. The Index reported a 5.8 percent annual increase in prices, up from 5.6 percent in January. The 20-City Composite reported a year-over-year gain of 5.9 percent, compared to 5.7 percent the previous month. Seattle, Portland and Dallas reported the highest […]
New home sales reached an 8-month high as the spring season brought out new buyers. Sales of new single-family homes rose 5.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000 in March. The rate is 15.6 percent above the March 2016 estimate, according to the US Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban […]
US vehicle sales averaged 17.3 million units, SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual rate) per month in the first quarter, down from 18.1 million in Q4 2016. March sales were much lower than expected with an annualized rate of 16.63 million units, down 0.3 percent year on year. Light-truck sales fell from 11 million annualized units in […]
Below is the latest data release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through February 2017. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for February 2017 increased 5.5 […]
Housing starts fell 6.8 percent in March, dropping further than expected. The rate was the biggest decline in three years but still 9.2 percent higher than the rate in March 2016. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of […]
The Dodge Momentum Index gained 0.9 percent in March to register 144.4. The March reading is the sixth consecutive monthly increase and has been driven mostly by new projects in institutional building. The index is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential buildings in planning and leads construction spending for buildings by a […]
February data for construction put in place (CPIP) was released by the Department of Commerce on Monday March 3rd 2017. Once again this was not such a great report. Total construction is still growing though more slowly. Private construction has picked up the pace in the last three months but state and local construction is […]
U.S. light-vehicle sales fell for the third consecutive month in March as consumers choose trucks and SUVs over cars. Sedans weren’t the only vehicles to see softening this month, however. Small pickup trucks declined for the first time since August, according to data from Wards Auto. Larger pickups and SUV sales continued to grow as […]
Home prices in January gained 5.9 percent annually, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. The January data shows home prices were at a 31-month high and continuing on a positive trend despite tight inventory. On a year-over-year basis, the 20-city composite was up 5.7 percent compared to 5.5 percent in […]