FHFA House Price Index Gains In February, Existing Housing Sales Expected To Increase

Housing data was scheduled to be reported on Wednesday, beginning with the FHFA House Price Index at 9am.

The FHFA House Price Index for February came in at 0.70 percent and was in line with the consensus estimates. The print was also above the prior reading of 0.30 percent.

At 10am on Wednesday, the NAR will report Existing Home Sales for March.

Consensus estimates expected sales of 5.04 million on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to Bloomberg, up from 4.88 million in the February report.

Another indicator that may be useful in forecasting economic activity and, by extension, housing sales is the Chemical Activity Barometer.

According to the American Chemistry Council, the Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) is a leading economic indicator created and was up 0.1 percent in April, as measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA).

The index reached 98.1, last seen in January 2008, and the CAB remained up 2.6 percent over a year ago, which suggested “gains in business activity will continue into the fourth quarter,” according to the ACC.

The Calculated Risk blog produced this chart from CAB data: