Personal Income in July 2009 increased less than 0.1% from June. Real and nominal personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.2%. Real disposable personal income (DPI) declined 0.1%, while nominal DPI decreased less than 0.1%. The personal saving rate as a percentage of DPI was 4.2%.
Archive for August, 2009
July Personal Income and Outlays Flat
Friday, August 28th, 2009Q2 Gross Domestic Product Update
Thursday, August 27th, 2009The Commerce Department’s estimate for the change in the gross domestic product was unchanged from the initial figure it released last month. The drop, while representing a record fourth consecutive decline, was far smaller than the previous two quarters. It also was stronger than the 1.5 percent decline that private economists expected.
July New Home Sales Up
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009New home sales New home sales in July 2009 increased 9.6% from the prior month but declined 13.4% from the prior year, to 433,000.
Durable Good Orders Rose In July
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Orders for durable goods rose last month by the largest amount in two years, the Commerce Department reported today that orders for goods expected to last at least three years increased 4.9 percent in July, the third rise in the past four months. Orders for June were revised up to a 1.3 percent drop, from a 2.2 percent decline.
Orders for transportation equipment, which rose 18.4 percent, drove the overall increase. Commercial aircraft orders, a volatile category, more than doubled after falling 30 percent in June. Motor vehicle orders increased 0.9 percent.
Excluding transportation goods, orders rose 0.8 percent. That was the third straight increase, but just below analysts’ expectations of a 0.9 percent rise.
Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key measure of business investment, dropped 0.3 percent. Some economists expected that category to fall after rising in May and June.
Auto production improved last month as General Motors and Chrysler reopened many plants that were shut in May and June while the companies restructured and emerged from bankruptcy protection. The industry also benefited from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, which spurred thousands of people to trade in older vehicles for new cars.
Single Family Home Prices Up In June
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009Single-family home prices in June rose for the second consecutive and posted their first quarterly increase in three years, up 2.9 percent, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Schiller Index.
The S&P/Case-Shiller composite indexes of 10 and 20 metropolitan areas both rose 1.4 percent in June from May, almost three times the 0.5 percent increases of the month before. May’s increases were the first in nearly three years. Those indexes have dropped 54.3 percent and 45.3 percent from their 2006 peaks, respectively.
S&P also said its U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a 14.9 percent decline for the second quarter, compared with a 19.1 percent year-over-year drop in the first quarter.
July Existing Home Sales Up 7.2 Percent
Friday, August 21st, 2009The National Association of Realtors reported today that existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.
The monthly sales gain was the largest on record for the total existing-home sales series dating back to 1999. (more…)
July Mass Layoffs Down
Friday, August 21st, 2009In July, employers took 2,157 mass layoffs involving 206,791 workers. The number of mass layoff events decreased by 606 and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 72,440 from the prior month. Over the year, mass layoff events increased by 622, and associated initial claims increased by 54,292.
Las Vegas July unemployment rate at a record 13.1 percent
Friday, August 21st, 2009The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said the new record is up from 12.3 percent in June. The national unemployment rate in June was 9.4 percent.
Nevada state unemployment rose to 12.5 percent in July from 12 percent in June. Since April, the state’s unemployment rate has increased 1.9 percentage points, with 27,600 Nevadans losing their jobs including the loss of 15,000 jobs from June to July alone. Las Vegas lost 11,900 jobs in the period.
Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Foreclosures Flat in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey
Thursday, August 20th, 2009The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.24 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2009, up 12 basis points from the first quarter of 2009, and up 283 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 64 basis points from 8.22 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 8.86 percent this quarter.
The delinquency rate breaks the record set last quarter. The records are based on MBA data dating back to 1972.
The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans somewhere in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the second quarter was 4.30 percent, an increase of 45 basis points from the first quarter of 2009 and 155 basis points from one year ago. The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure and at least one payment past due was 13.16 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest ever recorded in the MBA delinquency survey.
The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the second quarter was 1.36 percent, down one basis point from last quarter and up 28 basis points from one year ago. (more…)
Strategic Real Estate Opportunities Launched
Thursday, August 20th, 2009$25 Million Fund to Invest in Nevada Real Estate Backed Assets
Las Vegas – August 11, 2009 – The Strategic Real Estate Opportunities (SREO), an investment company for real estate backed assets, including residential and/or commercial real property and mortgage loans secured by real estate, primarily in the State of Nevada, has been launched.
SREO, a Nevada corporation is offering two different subordinated notes, each with maturities of 48 months at either an interest rate of 17 percent per year, compounded annually or an interest rate of 13 percent annually, with interest paid monthly and principal paid at maturity. The minimum purchase is $25,000.
Craig Burr, President of SREO, said, “The economy, as challenging as it is, presents a remarkable investment opportunity and it is that prospect that prompted the development of the SREO.”
Mr. Burr said, “We intend to invest in real estate backed assets, including residential and/or commercial real property and mortgage loans secured by real estate, primarily in the State of Nevada, as well as real properties that are obtained through foreclosure.”
He pointed out that the SREO business strategy “is designed to generate revenue by investing in notes, debentures and bonds and other evidences of indebtedness or obligations that are collateralized by real property.”
Mr. Burr said, “We believe our investment strategy, especially in this economy, is on target and that there is a significant opportunity in Nevada.”