The Census Bureau reports : The … total June exports of $125.8 billion and imports of $152.8 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $27.0 billion, up from $26.0 billion in May, revised. June exports were $2.4 billon … Read More

From Crain’s New York: Shadow units cast pall (ht Nick) … In Manhattan in the first quarter, [condo] sales were halved from year-earlier levels even as more apartments flooded onto the market, leaving it choking on an 18.6-month supply of … Read More

Professor Arthur C. Nelson, Director of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah, has kindly sent me his new paper: “The New Urbanity: The Rise of a New America” (no link). Nelson sees a dramatic shift in American … Read More

Private residential construction spending increased slightly in June and is now 63.6 below the peak of early 2006. Private non-residential construction spending declined in June, but is only off 6.7% below the peak of last September. Overall construction spending increased … Read More

New Home sales for June are scheduled to be released on Monday morning by the Census Bureau. The consensus forecast is for 350 thousand sales on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis, up slightly from the 342 thousand SAAR … Read More

Please see this earlier post for graphs of the homeownership rate, and homeowner and rental vacancy rates. The supply of rental units has been surging: Click on graph for larger image in new window. This graph shows the number of … Read More

This morning the Census Bureau reported the homeownership and vacancy rates for Q2 2009. Here are a few graphs … Click on graph for larger image in new window. The homeownership rate increased slightly to 67.4% and is now at … Read More

Jim the Realtor takes us on a tour of the 679-unit Vantage Point complex in downtown San Diego. “They had been taking $25,000 deposits since 2004, but could only generate around 200 sales - not enough to qualify for Fannie/Freddie … Read More

The Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales report from the Census Bureau today showed more evidence of declining inventories. Click on graph for larger image in new window. The Census Bureau reported: Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations … Read More

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.6% from May to June (seasonally adjusted), and sales are off 9.6% from June 2008 (retail ex food services decreased 10.3%). Excluding autos and gas, retail sales fell again in June. The following … Read More