|
Eye on the Economy: Long-Term Interest Rates to Remain Favorable
 Growth of U.S. economic output (real Gross Domestic Product) slowed down further in the third quarter as the housing production component (Residential Fixed Investment) subtracted more than a percentage point from the overall GDP growth rate.
Further below-trend GDP growth is in the cards for the fourth quarter of the year, due largely to another sizeable negative contribution from RFI. But the drag from housing should ease off early next year and the economy should easily avoid recession in 2007.
The Job Market Is Doing Remarkably Well
Despite preliminary indications of relatively weak payroll job growth for last month, including further slippage of the residential construction component, the October employment report was fundamentally strong.
The report included large upward revisions to payroll employment growth in both August and September, maintenance of strong growth in average hourly earnings, and strong growth in both the labor force and household employment — along with a decline in the unemployment rate to a new cyclical low in October (4.4%).
The Mix of GDP Growth and Labor Conditions Has Inflationary Implications
The combination of slowing GDP growth, solid job growth, shrinking slack in labor markets and upward momentum in average hourly earnings has sobering implications for both labor productivity (output per hour) and unit labor costs (labor cost per unit of output). Indeed, slowing productivity growth and rising unit labor costs are already in evidence, and continuation of those patterns would have downside implications for business profit margins and upside risks for inflation in the U.S. economy.
Core consumer price inflation (excluding food and energy prices) still is running above the upper bounds of the Federal Reserve’s implicit tolerance ranges, largely because of the influence of the government’s imputation for “homeowners’ equivalent rent.”
It’s still reasonable to expect core inflation to recede as the below-trend economic expansion proceeds and upward pressures on market rents abate, although that picture has been clouded by the recent slowdown in productivity growth and the renewed upward pressure on unit labor costs.
The Fed Remains Friendly Despite Current Inflation Issues
The Federal Reserve held monetary policy steady at the Oct. 24-25 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), stressing the importance of a “cooling” housing market in the current slowdown of economic growth and projecting moderation of core inflation from recent “elevated” levels.
The Fed is likely to hold policy steady into 2007 despite the recent troubling news on productivity growth and unit labor costs, and we’re still expecting a bit of monetary easing around the middle of next year.
Long-Term Interest Rates Figure to Remain Quite Favorable
The employment report for October (released Nov. 3) provoked immediate increases in long-term interest rates as inflation expectations in financial markets were marked up and prospects for near-term Fed easing were marked down.
Even so, long rates remain well below their midyear highs, and the outlook for Treasury bond and long-term mortgage rates remains quite favorable in the context of our projections for real economic growth, core inflation and Fed policy.
Our forecast currently shows less than a quarter-point increase in long-term rates over the coming year.
Stabilization of Home Buyer Demand Should Occur Soon
Home sales still appear to be slowing from the unsustainable levels recorded in 2005, and sales cancellations still are a major issue. However, affordability conditions have improved a bit in recent months and forward-looking indicators — including NAHB’s monthly surveys of single-family builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly surveys of home mortgage lenders — suggest that home buyer demand is likely to stabilize in the near future.
Indeed, a number of key economic and housing market developments now are underpinning housing demand, and many home sellers (particularly home builders) are trimming prices and offering a plethora of non-price sales incentives to bolster sales and limit cancellations.
Inventory Overhangs Should Delay Turnarounds in Housing Production
The inventories of unsold single-family homes and condo units have edged down a bit from recent records, but inventory levels and inventory-to-sales ratios still are quite high. Furthermore, inventory overhangs undoubtedly are larger than shown by published data, and vacant units now account for an unusually large share of homes for sale — accentuating the seriousness of the inventory situation.
The weight of the inventory situation is likely to exert downward pressure on housing production and home price appreciation for at least a few more quarters.
NAHB’s housing forecast shows a trough in home sales in the first quarter of 2007, a trough in housing starts in the second quarter and a bottoming-out of home price appreciation in the second half of 2007.
The projected recovery process lifts sales and production back up toward trend by the end of 2008, and national house price appreciation will be comfortably in the positive zone by then.
The Current Housing ‘Correction’ Is Not a Classic Cyclical Downswing
The recent and projected housing “correction” is roughly half as long and deep as the housing downswing that accompanied the 1990-1991 economic recession ― largely because the overall economic and financial market environment is likely to remain relatively positive as this housing downswing plays out.
This housing correction has been a relatively isolated sectoral event provoked by earlier excesses within the housing and housing finance sectors — including a wave of “exotic” ARM lending and a massive influx of investors/speculators that drove home sales and home prices to unsustainable heights and decimated affordability conditions in many areas.
The November Elections Have Limited Implications for Housing and the Economy
The outcome of the Nov. 7 Congressional elections should not have major implications for the economy or the housing market in 2007-2008.
The independent Federal Reserve will hold the major economic policy lever during that period, Democratic majorities are razor thin in both houses of Congress, and the White House will be able to effectively exercise veto power.
Major decisions on things like Social Security and tax reform certainly will not occur prior to the 2008 elections, and the Democratic Congress is likely to devote much of 2007-2008 to positioning the party for the 2008 campaign.
This presumably will include bringing popular bills that Republicans traditionally have opposed to the House floor and daring the Republicans to vote against them. Comprehensive immigration reform could fall into this category.
NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders analyzes the economy from the point of view of the housing market every other week in the free e-newsletter, “Eye on the Economy.” The preceding is a reissue of his Nov. 15 edition. To subscribe to “Eye on the Economy,” click here.
 Want to Know the Housing Starts Through 2015?
Find out in HousingEconomics.com’s Long-Term Forecast.
HousingEconomics.com includes downloadable Excel tables featuring the housing starts forecast, GDP, demographics and more.
To learn more, visit www.housingeconomics.com.
 NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips in Changing Market
With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.
To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.
For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.
|
