Posted on 03/27/2013 7:24:50 AM PDT by whitedog57
The housing market in the US is improving (after wandering in the economic desert since 2008). It has been a slow recovery, but is getting some legs from investors buying discounted foreclosures. And foreign investors.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications rose by +7.66% SA from the previous week. Mortgage purchase applications rose 6.67% while refinancing applications from 7.98%.
Over the past year, we saw the seasonal pattern where mortgage applications began slowing after Spring culminating in a plunge between Christmas and January 1st. But since January 1st, mortgage purchase applications have been increasing.
But if we add a seasonal adjustment to data and go back to 2000, we see that mortgage purchase applications remain in a rut.
When we look at refinancing applications, we can see that they are about the average for the last 12 months.
Pending home sales? They fell more than expected by -0.4%. But they had been steadily increasing since the tax-induced home sales from 2010.
So, we are seeing a slow recovery in the housing market (not as much as some thought since Case-Shiller 20 actually rose by only 0.01% in January on a non seasonally adjusted basis.
While things are improving on this side of the pond, our friends on the Mediterranean Sea are not faring so well. The Eurogroup-Cyprus bailout fiasco has bled over to the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) who are mired in their own recessions and barely solvent banks.
On a positive note, at least Cyprus’ international bonds have declined in yield to 62%.
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