Research Center
Economy Watch: Too Soon to Gauge Shut Down Impact
Day One of the federal government shut down, 2013 version, passed without too much incident on Tuesday. As expected, certain functions of the U.S. government came to a halt. Also as expected, Congress didn’t act to resolve the situation.
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: A Good Week, Ahead of the Shut Down
It was actually a pretty good week for the economy, ahead of the shut down.
Economy Watch: Federal Government Shuts Down
Congress was unable to agree on legislation authorizing money for the continued operations of the federal government by midnight on Monday and, as has been expected for some days now, a shutdown began today, the beginning of the government’s fiscal year.
Economy Watch: Personal Income, Expenditures Up in August
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that U.S. personal income increased $57.2 billion, or 0.4 percent in August compared with July, and disposable personal income—after taxes, the kind everyone likes—was up 0.5 percent.
Economy Watch: Pending Home Sales Edge Down
According to the National Association of Realtors, the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings (but not closings), dropped to 107.7 in August from a downwardly revised 109.4 in July.
Economy Watch: New Home Sales Up in August
The Census Bureau and HUD reported that sales of new single-family houses in August 2013 were at an annualized rate of 421,000 units. That’s 7.9 percent higher than the revised July rate of 390,000 units and is 12.6 percent above the August 2012 total.
2013 Top Apartment Owners
Our observation is that successful owners are not just traders in and out of properties each time a cap rate adjustment occurs. Cycles come and go, but long-term ownership keeps you looking smarter year over year.
Economy Watch: Case-Shiller Shows Continuing Home Price Rises
S&P Dow Jones Indices released the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which track U.S. home prices through the end of July (not August), and they showed continued increases.
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: Fed Says No Tapering
The Fed says no tapering for now.
Economy Watch: NY Fed President Talks Tapering
Last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve not to taper QE3 left an open question: When will the tapering begin, since presumably it has to sometime?