Elliott D. Pollack & Co.
The Monday Morning Quarterback /A quick analysis of important economic data released over the past week
Mixed economic news continues. Obviously, the stock market seems to be content with it. It’s the good, the bad and the ugly. The good: interest rates were flat to down as were gas prices. Also, construction activity was up, home builders were happy and existing home sales were up. The bad: leading indicators were slightly down. The ugly: actually, there was no ugly.
This is probably the way things will be for a while. Modest growth. But, growth.
Arizona Snapshot
Statewide lodging performance continues to improve. Occupancy rose to 59.8% in September. That compares to 57.2% a year ago. Demand was up 5.1% over a year ago and supply was up 0.5% over the same period.
U.S. Snapshot
The index of leading indicators declined by 0.2% in September when compared to August. Those close to the survey believe it suggests that economic expansion will continue but at a moderate pace.
Regular gas prices declined last week to $2.37, down 2.4% from the previous week. Gas prices are now 25.9% lower than a year ago.
30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.79% for the week ending October 22. This is down from an average of 3.82% last week and 3.92% a year ago.
Good news and bad news for housing. Housing starts for single family and multifamily housing combined jumped 6.5% in September. But, building permits were down 5.0% for the month. Single-family starts for the month were up 0.3% while single-family permits were down 0.3% for the month.
Homebuilder confidence in the market for newly constructed single family homes rose to 64 in October. This is up from 61 in September and 54 a year ago.
