High points for economic data scheduled for February 24 week

The financial information calendar in February presents some challenges in decoding the scheduled reviews. Information for December and January is not going to embody more moderen developments. Furthermore, the January numbers might be affected by the extreme chilly and winter storms that disrupted some exercise. In a quickly altering geopolitical local weather, companies and customers are going through greater ranges of uncertainty concerning the financial outlook. The penalties of those adjustments – if any, and whether or not optimistic or destructive for the financial system – might take one other month or two to be meaningfully seen as reviews are revealed.

An instance of that is the housing information. The February NAHB/Wells Fargo housing market index and weekly MBA report on mortgage functions recommend that the housing market is weakening. Homebuilders are extra involved about future exercise each when it comes to client demand for newly constructed houses and their prices and availability of development provides and labor. Functions for mortgages usually are not choosing up prematurely of the spring shopping for season as customers are more and more anxious concerning the financial system and job safety. Whereas residence affordability is slightly improved with charges for a 30-year fastened fee mortgage declining weekly since mid-January, it nonetheless stays uncomfortably near the 7 p.c mark.

The Freddie Mac fee for a 30-year fastened fee mortgage was as little as 6.60 p.c within the week of December 12, 2024, then rose to 7.04 p.c within the January 16, 2025 week from the place it has inched down to six.85 p.c as of February 20.

The housing-related information within the week is not going to make clear the image. The FHFA home value index and the Case-Shiller residence value index on Tuesday at 9:00 ET are each for December. These will verify the broad moderation in residence costs up via the top of 2024, however not what impact circumstances in January had on costs.

Gross sales of latest single-family houses in January at 10:00 ET on Wednesday must be down on account of hostile climate circumstances that stored consumers at residence in addition to the chilling in demand from financial uncertainty. Additionally, with extra present models to select from, consumers will likely be searching for bargains and taking extra time to buy round, notably within the single-family market.

The NAR pending residence gross sales index for January at 10:00 ET on Thursday will likely be for contracts signed in that month utilizing mortgages taken out in December when charges have been decrease. This may imply expectations for an uptick in present residence gross sales in February that is probably not sustained into March.