Morning Report: Sell City, Buy Country

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

 

Last Change
S&P futures 3285 26.6
Oil (WTI) 40.23 0.32
10 year government bond yield 0.56%
30 year fixed rate mortgage 2.98%

 

Stocks are higher this morning on stronger than expected overseas economic strength. Bonds and MBS are flat.

 

The upcoming week will be mainly about the jobs report. The Street is looking for 2MM jobs to be added in July, with unemployment expected to drop to 10.5%. Other than that, we will still have a lot of earnings reports to deal with.

 

“Sell City, Buy Country.” Mortgage Applications for suburban homes are surging as people flee the citites, according to the CEO of Caliber Home Loans. Health concerns, the ability to work from home, and the attraction of more space are the big drivers.

 

Speaking of real estate prices, home price appreciation in late July was up 11%, according to Redfin, which was the fastest home price appreciation since 2011. The sale-to-list ratio was 99%, the highest since 2012.

“One of the first things I have to do with many of my buyers here in Houston is educate them on the reality that many houses are selling for more than asking,” explained Houston Redfin agent Melanie Miller. “You can’t wait around for a price drop. Rather, homes that are priced right are receiving offers at or above full price within three days of being listed, so serious buyers need to be ready to act quickly.”

“The shortage of homes for sale makes people think ‘maybe I should wait until things get cooler’, but unless we start to see a huge surge of new listings, things aren’t going to cool down much,” said Dosch. “Even new construction is selling out faster than it is being built. The shortage has extended into rentals too. A lot of people are living with family and friends now because it’s too hard to enter the market.”

Home prices

 

Zillow just announced that its workers are permitted to work from home indefinitely.

Filed under: Economy, Morning Report |

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38 Responses

  1. Brent Nyitray, on August 3, 2020 at 9:55 am said:

    The new protection racket

    Like

    Reply
  2. markinaustin, on August 3, 2020 at 11:05 am said:

    re: buy country…

    https://tinyurl.com/DurhamOnItsOwnPond

    Like

    Reply
  3. jnc4p, on August 3, 2020 at 12:35 pm said:

    Taibbi’s latest:

    “Kansas Should Go F— Itself

    Author Thomas Frank predicted the modern culture war, and he was right about Donald Trump, but don’t expect political leaders to pay attention to his new book about populism

    Matt Taibbi
    Aug 2
    …
    By 2020, the official answer to What’s the Matter with Kansas? was Kansas is a White Supremacist Project and Can Go Fuck Itself.”

    https://taibbi.substack.com/p/kansas-should-go-f-itself

    Like

    Reply
  5. jnc4p, on August 3, 2020 at 10:49 pm said:

    Interesting read:

    “Personal news: why I’m now leaving MSNBC”

    https://www.arianapekary.net/post/personal-news-why-i-m-now-leaving-msnbc

    Like

    Reply
  6. jnc4p, on August 4, 2020 at 12:23 pm said:

    Sometimes, even the commies are right:

    “Let Us Drink in Public

    By Miles Kampf-Lassin

    Open container laws criminalize working-class people and make public life less fun. We need to legalize public drinking.”

    https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/08/open-container-public-drinking

    Like

    Reply
    • ScottC, on August 4, 2020 at 12:31 pm said:

      jnc:

      Sometimes, even the commies are right:

      One of the good things about living in the UK, especially during the time of corona, has been the ability to go to the village, get a cocktail or a pint to go, and take a walk around the common without having to worry about open container laws.

      Like

      Reply
  7. jnc4p, on August 4, 2020 at 2:30 pm said:

    Good write up of Michael Tracey’s ongoing reporting in Portland.

    https://unherd.com/2020/08/how-white-radicals-hijacked-portlands-protests/

    Like

    Reply
    • markinaustin, on August 5, 2020 at 1:54 pm said:

      What is wrong with studying corpses? Especailly back then when there were no X-rays or scans of any kind?

      Like

      Reply
  10. jnc4p, on August 5, 2020 at 12:17 pm said:

    This is great:

    Like

    Reply
  11. jnc4p, on August 5, 2020 at 1:37 pm said:

    Everyone has lost their minds:

    “Democrats introduce bill to give the Federal Reserve a new mission: Ending racial inequality

    The legislation would make minimizing racial disparities an official part of the central bank’s mandate.

    By Heather Long
    August 5, 2020 at 12:08 p.m. EDT”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/05/fed-racial-inequality-democrats/

    Edit: Maybe not everyone

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/trader-joes-knows-petitions-arent-commandments/614950/

    Like

    Reply
  12. jnc4p, on August 5, 2020 at 4:13 pm said:

    Worth noting:

    ” ‘Add your phone to the COVID fight’: Virginia rolls out new app to alert people of possible coronavirus contact

    BY MEL LEONOR
    Richmond Times-Dispatch”

    https://richmond.com/news/virginia/add-your-phone-to-the-covid-fight-virginia-rolls-out-new-app-to-alert-people/article_abe4a02f-f52e-5f77-8ed1-8dfdce1f30d7.html

    Like

    Reply

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