Housing Indicators:

Recently published housing data continues to show trends of declines in home closings, pending sales, and under contract listings. The leading indicator comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and those data points clearly show sharp declines in new mortgage applications and refinance applications.  This is expected data given the FOMC Board’s actions to raise interest rates and to buy back mortgage bonds, otherwise known as asset tapering. 

The most remarkable trends are appearing in the historic comparisons. The sharp drop could indicate signs of a looming recession, but it’s too soon to make that conclusion. Moreover, any predictive analysis of the severity of a possible recession is a futile exercise this early in the mortgage process.

Seeking Alpha has compiled a series of useful descriptions of the current housing market, and you can access that article by CLICKING HERE.

We fully understand that there is value in a treasury stock repurchase, but this is the time when builders should be using available funds to purchase land and build homes.

Equity Markets:

Equity markets and bond markets directly affect the real estate industry. When equities fall some people reconsider a home purchase because their overall assets are declining. However, often investors will redirect investment dollars into commercial real estate as a hedge against the falling equity markets.

Bond markets also affect real estate because treasury notes are direct drivers of mortgage interest rates. It prudent to keep an eye on both markets to anticipate future activity in the real estate industry.

source: tradingeconomics.com