Monitoring Risk in the Housing Market
Housing is the weak link in an otherwise upbeat trend for the US economy. Deciding if this is a temporary soft patch for real estate or the start of something darker is still a work in progress. The...
View ArticleBank of England Must Beware Bubble Hysteria
Let me take you to the West Midlands, if not the land of our fathers then certainly the land of my father, the place I grew up. It has been through tough times but things are looking up. Unemployment...
View ArticleBank of England Grapples With Strange Kind of Housing Boom
Even by the standards of Britain’s housing market, the announcement a few days ago of a 3.9% May increase in house prices was a humdinger. The Halifax house price index has recorded bigger increases in...
View ArticleEra of Benign Neglect of House Price Booms Is Over
By Min Zhu: (Version in 中文) House prices are inching up. But is this a cause for much cheer? Or are we watching the same movie again? Recall how after a decade-long boom, house prices started to fall...
View ArticleStrategic Briefing: U.S. Existing Home Sales
Existing-Home Sales Heat Up in May, Inventory Levels Continue to Improve National Assoc. of Realtors | June 23 Existing-home sales rose strongly in May and inventory gains continued to help moderate...
View ArticleIs the Soft Housing Starts Data for June a Warning or a Sign of a Maturing...
Housing starts were surprisingly weak in June, the Census Bureau reports. The consensus forecast was looking for a modest gain to a 1.026 million annualized rate. Instead, the actual number dipped to...
View ArticleHousing: The U.S. Economy’s New Risk Factor
Housing remains a weak spot for the US economy, as suggested in yesterday’snews of a surprisingly large decline in new home sales for June. The report follows last week’s update on new residential...
View ArticleManaging Housing-Market Risks in the United Kingdom
By Ruy Lama: House prices are rising rapidly in the UK at an annual rate of 10.5 percent. House price inflation is particularly high in London (20 percent per year), and it is gradually accelerating in...
View ArticleUS Fed: It Is Not “The When”, It Is How Long It Will Take to Normalize Policy
Key takeaway – On September 16-17, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will take a difficult decision: to hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade – or wait. It is a close call: US domestic economic...
View ArticleCooling Housing Markets: What Works?
photo’s by: Andrés Nieto Porras and goisraelgermany For past few years, macroprudential policy has been the new policy buzzword, and the “go-to” tool for many policymakers around the world. This note...
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