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Housing starts fell by 4.5% to seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 791,000 in October, driving new construction to its lowest level since just after World War II; housing data subject to large sampling and statistical errors...

(11/19/2008)

The October pace was the slowest since the housing boom of the late 1940s when similar records were first kept. Year-over-year, housing starts are now down 38%...and down 70% from their peak in early 2006. Building permits, a typically less volatile gauge, fell 12% in October to a record-low seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 708,000, down 40% year-over-year. The government cautions that these reports are subject to large sampling and statistical errors and that it can take four months for a new housing trend to emerge from the data.
CPI declined in October by record 1% as energy prices fell a record 8.6%; "core" CPI fell 0.1%, first decline since 1982..

(11/19/2008)

Economists had expected a 0.9% drop in the overall CPI and a 0.1% rise in the "core" which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices. Food prices rose by only 0.3% in October, the smallest gain since May. Data on the headline CPI number date back to 1947 while data on energy prices only go back to 1957.
PPI fell a record 2.8% in October, most since 1947, as wholesale gas prices plunged 24.9%, also a record decline; "core" PPI rose 0.4%...

(11/18/2008)

The October report on producer prices provides further evidence for the Fed that inflation need not be a top concern as Washington attempts to revive the ailing economy. Overall, finished energy goods prices fell 12.8% on the month, the most since 1986, while food prices declined 0.2%. Economists had expected a 1.6% drop in the headline PPI number...and a 0.1% rise in the "core". Looking further back in the production pipeline, prices for intermediate goods fell a record 3.9% in October while prices for crude goods dropped 18.6%, also a record. Year-over-year, the PPI is up 5.2%.
Economic data on tap this week...

(11/17/2008)

Monday (NY Empire State Index at 8:30am; Industrial Production/Capacity Utilization at 9:15am); Tuesday (PPI at 8:30am; Net Foreign Purchases at 9:00am); Wednesday (Housing Starts/Building Permits, CPI at 8:30am; FOMC Oct. 29 Minutes at 2:00pm); Thursday (Initial Jobless Claims at 8:30am; Leading Indicators, Philly Fed at 10:00am).
Effective January 1,2009: conforming loan limits in high-cost areas to equal 115% of local median house prices up to a maximum of $625,000; conforming limit to stay at $417,000 for most of country...

(11/17/2008)

Here are the conforming loan limits for high cost areas:

ONE-UNIT: $625,500

TWO-UNIT: $800,775

THREE-UNIT: $967,950

FOUR-UNIT: $1,202,925.

Loans originated in 2008 and the second half of 2007 have limits of 125% of local price medians up to a maximum of $729,750.

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