Abominable Abodes
07/17/2014 | | econ70, Economic forecasting, economist on radio, economist on TV, eisenberg and economics, Eisenberg and housing economics, Eisenberg and public speaking, Elliot eisenberg, funniest economist, funny housing economist, Graphsandlaughs, graphsandlaughs and eisenberg, housing permits, housing sales, Housing Starts, MLS, mortgage banking, Multiple listing service, politics and economics, Public speaking economist, www.econ70.com
Today’s housing numbers stank! Starts for Jan-June 2014 are up 6% compared to 2013, single-family starts up 1%! Multifamily is up 18%. With these numbers a premature rate hike will kill single-family construction. Yes, weather was bad, prices are up, financing is hard, incomes are down, student loans hurt and there’s no labor, but in 2013Q4 and 2014Q1 housing reduced GDP, the first time since mid-2009. Improvement will come slowly!