Note: I'm looking forward to not posting this daily! I've been posting this data daily for over a year, and I'll stop once all three of these criteria are met: 1) 70% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose of vaccine, 2) new cases are under 5,000 per day, and 3) hospitalizations are below 3,000. According to the CDC, 194.8 million doses have been administered. 29.6% of the population over 18 is fully vaccinated, and 47.6% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose (123.0 million people have had at least one dose). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. 

Note1: Import traffic was heavy in February and March - ships were backed up waiting to unload in LA. "some vessels are spending almost as much time at anchor as it takes to traverse the Pacific Ocean." They are still backed up in April! Note2: The expansion to the Panama Canal was completed in 2016 (As I noted a few years ago), and some of the traffic that used the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is probably going through the canal. This might be impacting TEUs on the West Coast. Container traffic gives us an idea about the volume of goods being exported and imported - and usually some hints about the trade report since LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic. The following graphs are for inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container). To remove the strong seasonal component for inbound traffic, the first graph shows the rolling 12 month...

A shortage of available homes priced at $250,000 and below combined with frenzied shopping among high-end homes produced a surge in pricing when compared to a Houston housing market in the grips of a pandemic-related lockdown a year earlier, in March 2020. Record low interest rates continued to fuel the buying bonanza. According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Market Update, single-family homes sales jumped 24.4 percent in March with 9,347 units sold versus 7,511 a year earlier. That marks the tenth straight positive month of sales. On a year-to-date basis, homes sales are running 16.9 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace. ... Sales of all property types totaled 11,692 – up 31.5 percent from March 2020. Total dollar volume for the month shot up 55.8 percent to $4.0 billion. ... A 5.8 percent year-over-year decline in new listings combined with another strong month of sales drove single-family homes inventory down to a 1.4-months supply compared to 3.4 months...

We are, once again, experiencing one of the greatest housing booms in United States history. How long this will last and where it is heading next are impossible to know now. But it is time to take notice: My data shows that this is the United States’ third biggest housing boom in the modern era.

Mortgage applications decreased 3.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 9, 2021. ... The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week and was 31 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 51 percent higher than the same week one year ago. Purchase and refinance applications declined, with most of the pullback coming earlier in the week when rates were higher. Treasury yields started last week high – close to the prior week’s level at over 1.7 percent – before decreasing 6 basis points,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Refinance activity has now decreased for nine of the past 10 weeks, as rates have gone from 2.92...

Note: I'm looking forward to not posting this daily! I've been posting this data daily for over a year, and I'll stop once all three of these criteria are met: 1) 70% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose of vaccine, 2) new cases are under 5,000 per day, and 3) hospitalizations are below 3,000. According to the CDC, 192.3 million doses have been administered. 29.1% of the population over 18 is fully vaccinated, and 47% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose (121.4 million people have had at least one dose). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. 

Last month, from Jann Swanson at MortgageNewsDaily: Fannie Warns Lenders on Investment Properties and 2nd Homes. This action will result in higher interest rates on 2nd home and investment property mortgages. I'm looking at data for some second home markets - and will track those markets to see if there is an impact from the lending changes. This graph is for South Lake Tahoe since 2004 through March 2021, and shows inventory (blue), and the year-over-year change in the median price (12 month average). Note: The median price is distorted by the mix, but this is the available data. Click on graph for larger image. Following the housing bubble, prices declined for several years in South Lake Tahoe, with the median price falling about 50% from the bubble peak. Note that inventory was high while prices were declining - and significantly lower inventory in 2012 suggested the bust was over.  (Tracking inventory helped me call the bottom for housing way back in...

Note: I'm tracking data for many local markets around the U.S. I think it is especially important to watch inventory this year. From the South Carolina Realtors for the entire state: Closed sales in March 2021 were 9,958, up 22.3% from 8,144 in March 2020. Active Listings in March 2021 were 12,754, down 53.8% from 27,624 in March 2020. Months of Supply was 1.4 Months in March 2021, compared to 3.4 Months in March 2020.

Note: I'm tracking data for many local markets around the U.S. I think it is especially important to watch inventory this year. For Portland, OR: Closed sales in March 2021 were 2,556, up 8.5% from 2,356 in March 2020. Active Listings in March 2021 were 1,943, down 53.9% from 4,218 in March 2020. Months of Supply was 0.8 Months in March 2021, compared to 1.8 Months in March 2020.

The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI and the trimmed-mean CPI this morning: According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% March. The 16% trimmed-mean Consumer Price Index also rose 0.2% in March. "The median CPI and 16% trimmed-mean CPI are measures of core inflation calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly CPI report". Note: The Cleveland Fed released the median CPI details for March here. Motor fuel was up 185% annualized in March. Click on graph for larger image. This graph shows the year-over-year change for these four key measures of inflation. On a year-over-year basis, the median CPI rose 2.0%, the trimmed-mean CPI rose 2.1%, and the CPI less food and energy rose 1.6%. Core PCE is for February and increased 1.4% year-over-year. Note: We saw negative Month-to-month (MoM) core CPI and CPI readings in March, April and May...

Note: I'm tracking data for many local markets around the U.S. I think it is especially important to watch inventory this year. From the Maryland Realtors for the entire state: Closed sales in March 2021 were 7,964, up 11.4% from 7,148 in March 2020. Active Listings in March 2021 were 6,202, down 67.5% from 19,061 in March 2020. Months of Supply was 0.8 Months in March 2021, compared to 2.5 Months in March 2020.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.4 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The March 1-month increase was the largest rise since a 0.6-percent increase in August 2012. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.6 percent before seasonal adjustment. The gasoline index continued to increase, rising 9.1 percent in March and accounting for nearly half of the seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index. The natural gas index also rose, contributing to a 5.0-percent increase in the energy index over the month. The food index rose 0.1 percent in March, with the food at home index and the food away from home index both also rising 0.1 percent. . The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in March. The shelter index increased in March as did the motor vehicle insurance index, the recreation index, and the...

Note: I'm looking forward to not posting this daily! I've been posting this data daily for over a year, and I'll stop once all three of these criteria are met: 1) 70% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose of vaccine, 2) new cases are under 5,000 per day, and 3) hospitalizations are below 3,000. According to the CDC, 189.7 million doses have been administered. 28.6% of the population over 18 is fully vaccinated, and 46.5% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose (120.0 million people have had at least one dose). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 24 basis points from 4.90% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.66% as of April 4, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.3 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. ... “The share of loans in forbearance decreased for the sixth straight week, dropping by 24 basis points – one of the largest decreases in the history of the series. The forbearance share also decreased significantly for all three investor categories, with the rate for Ginnie Mae loans down an impressive 45 basis points. Overall, forbearance exits increased to their fastest pace since early November,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Almost 32 percent of borrowers in forbearance extensions have now exceeded the 12-month mark. In terms of performance, more than 88% of homeowners who have exited into deferral...

From the Colorado Association of REALTORS® for the entire state: Closed sales for Single Family and Townhouse-Condo in March 2021 were 10,558, up 13.2% from 9,324 in March 2020. Active Listings for Single Family and Townhouse-Condo in March 2021 were 6,732, down 69.0% from 21,729 in March 2020. Months of Supply was 0.6 Months in March 2021, compared to 2.2 Months in March 2020.

You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

Note: I'm tracking data for many local markets around the U.S. I think it is especially important to watch inventory this year. From the Minnesota Realtors®: Total Residential Units Sold in March 2021 were 5,917, up 3.1% from 5,741 in March 2020. Active Residential Listings in March 2021 were 7,738, down 54.8% from 17,124 in March 2020. Months of Supply was 1.0 Months in March 2021, compared to 2.4 Months in March 2020. Click on graph for larger image. This graph from the Minnesota Realtors® shows inventory in Minnesota since 2012. Inventory had been trending down, and then was flat over the last couple of years, and then declined significantly during the pandemic.

The TSA is providing daily travel numbers. Click on graph for larger image. This data shows the seven day average of daily total traveler throughput from the TSA for 2019 (Light Blue), 2020 (Blue) and 2021 (Red). The dashed line is the percent of 2019 for the seven day average. This data is as of April 11th. The seven day average is down 38.7% from the same day in 2019 (61.3% of last year).  (Dashed line) There was a slow increase from the bottom, with ups and downs due to the holidays - and TSA data has picked up in 2021.

Note: I'm looking forward to not posting this daily! I've been posting this data daily for over a year, and I'll stop once all three of these criteria are met: 1) 70% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose of vaccine, 2) new cases are under 5,000 per day, and 3) hospitalizations are below 3,000. According to the CDC, 187.0 million doses have been administered. 28.1% of the population over 18 is fully vaccinated, and 45.9% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose (118.4 million people have had at least one dose). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing.