Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008

Coming here soon

Times: Fears for US consumption as house prices fall 23%

House prices in the US have fallen by almost 23 per cent over a three-month period and a decline in American consumer confidence is seen as signalling the biggest drop in consumption to occur since 1974.
Wall Street economists described the data as “incredibly awful” and said that the likelihood of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates is remote.
According to the S&P Case-Shiller house price index, considered the most authoritative gauge of US property values, the price of the average American home fell by 1.4 per cent in April, from March, and fell by 22.8 per cent over a three-month period.

Posted by little professor @ 12:49 AM (718 views) Add Comment

15 Comments

1. Guffy said...

I am not seeing these percentages - I calculate that the 20 city index has dropped 18% from peak. Maybe I am missing something here - if so, please explain.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 01:50AM Report Comment
 

2. japanese uncle said...

Coming here soon, in a much more brutal manner.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 07:37AM Report Comment
 

3. str 2007 said...

What a confusing article, they headline that prices have fallen 23% over a 3 month peiod and further on in the article they say prices fell 1.4% in April which is less than prevoous months of 2% falls.

How does 1.4% and 2% falls in a month by any calculation add up to a 23% fall over 3 months.

How does a journalist working for the times come up with this nonsense.

Either they should learn to add up or learn to write - ideally both. How did this person get a job and who allowed this to be published ?

I can only assume they are trying to say a 23% fall as compared to the same 3 month period last year or the year before that.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 07:51AM Report Comment
 

4. str 2007 said...

Written by Suzy Jagger in New York.

Hmmm where have I heard that surname before.

''Hello I've come for the journalist job you advertised.''

''What's your name'' ?

''Suzy Jagger''.

''I'll get an office fitted out for you right now''.

''Daddy Daddy I've got a job as a journalist for the times'',

''Well done I knew you could do it, was it a difficult interview process'' ?

''Oh yes, one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through''.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 07:57AM Report Comment
 

5. sold 2 rent 1 said...

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/06/24/afx5147235.html

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell a record 15.3 pct to 169.85 for the year through April, the 16th-straight month of yearly price declines. The 10-city index fell even further, declining a record 16.3 pct to 183.15.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 08:31AM Report Comment
 

6. sold 2 rent 1 said...

I think she meant to say "and tumbled by 22.8 per cent over a three-YEAR period"

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 08:32AM Report Comment
 

7. little professor said...

What an idiot.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 08:43AM Report Comment
 

8. mark wadsworth said...

Thanks S2R1, that makes sense now.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 09:40AM Report Comment
 

9. uncle tom said...

OK guys, a quick lesson on US stats.

The Americans love to 'annualise' their data, which in crude terms means taking a statistic covering a 3 month period and then multiplying it by four to get an 'annual' figure.

So for 22.8% read 5.7% over three months.

It's a daft habit - but it's what they've got used to

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 09:41AM Report Comment
 

10. harold said...

Thanks UT.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 09:59AM Report Comment
 

11. str 2007 said...

s2r1

22.8% over 3 years.

I think we've reasonably accepted that US is crashing harder than uk (at present at least).

If it's 22.8% over 3 years there, it doesn't bode well for our 25-30% falls here by the end of next year.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:21AM Report Comment
 

12. str 2007 said...

Sorry, my post at 10 was added a bit late, got half way through and distracted.

So UT they think 22.8% over a year based on the last 1/4.

And 15.3% year on year over the last year - actual figure.

So taking the figure for the last 1/4 it shows the rate of falls are accelerating.

If that 's correct, then that is more like the figure I would expect.

For anyone interested here's the wiki link to the case shiller list.

It says Q2 2006 was peak at 189.94 (I assume they mean 000 dollars) so currently off just over 16% from peak.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:37AM Report Comment
 

13. wiltshire said...

Whatever the true figures are I would LOVE to know what discussions are really taking place in VI boardrooms across this country. Despite what they may say in public they KNOW what is really around the corner. Those executive washroom cleaners must be working overtime!!!!!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:58AM Report Comment
 

14. uncle tom said...

That Wiki entry for Case-Shiller is pathetic - access the data through the Standard and Poors site - here is the link to the latest release:

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_History_062418.xls

The pace of decline is not obviously accelerating, and may even be slowing, but we need a few months more data before drawing conclusions

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 11:02AM Report Comment
 

15. str 2007 said...

UT
Pathetic seems a little strong.


The cities in the list you've posted seem to have a higher peak and trough 206.52 July 2006 down to 169.85 April 2008 representing about a 17.8% fall so far.

You're right the fall March - April isn't as big as the fall February - March 2008 1.4% as against just over 2%. But is that due to April buying season ?

They are currently back to August 2004 prices.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 01:00PM Report Comment
 

Add comment

Username   Admin Password (optional)
Email Address
Comments
  • If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
  • If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
  • Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
  • Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
  • Please adhere to the Guidelines

Main Blog | Archive | Add Article | Blog Policies