Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics;
Stocks are lower as we await the Fed decision at 2:00 pm today. Bonds and MBS are up small.
New home sales fell 2.5% month-over-month to 697k. This was below Street expectations of 727k. This was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. The median sales price fell 4% on a YOY basis to $415,400.
Pulte reported second quarter earnings yesterday. Revenues rose on a combination of a modest increase in units and average sales prices. Pulte focuses on first-time, move-up and active adult buyers, which means it doesn’t play in the luxury sandbox. Gross margins increased on a sequential basis and the cancellation rate was only 9%.
Pulte said on the conference call that the supply of existing homes for sale will probably remain limited as long as mortgage rates are above 5% as many would-be sellers are balking at selling their current home and buying another with a 7% rate. Consumer demand remains strong, and new construction will benefit from this effect.
On the earnings call, the company was asked about the high gross margins, and it said that it is changing the way it is allocating incentive money. Previously, the company might have used upgrades to entice buyers, however today it is using incentives to buy down the mortgage rate. The company said that 5.5% is sort of the “sweet spot” for buyers. This implies that the gross margin of 30% is somewhat overstated since the company is eating that buydown cost in the lower price it gets for the mortgage.
Pacwest and Banc of California agreed to merge, which put some starch in the regional banks. The combined company will get a capital injection from private equity which will enable the banks to sell some of their underwater MBS. The net effect will be to make the combined assets smaller.
Western Alliance has been on a tear recently, and it looks like it has put the crisis pretty much behind it.
Mortgage applications fell 1.8% last week as purchases decreased 3% and refis fell 0.4%. Refis are down 30% on a YOY basis. “Mortgage rates were essentially flat last week but remained high, with the 30-year fixed rate staying at 6.87 percent and contributing to a pullback in mortgage applications,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The 2.5 percent decline in purchase activity, partly driven by a 10 percent decrease in FHA applications, pushed the purchase index to its lowest level in over a month. The decrease in FHA purchase applications contributed to an increase in the overall average purchase loan size to $432,700, its highest level since the end of this May. Refinance applications remained lackluster, running 30 percent behind year-ago levels. Many borrowers remain on the sidelines given current rates and persistent affordability challenges.”
Filed under: Economy |
All Things in Moderation 
Obviously some sort of medical issue led to his “freezing”.
I don’t see how he can answer that he’s able to continue to do the job when we all saw what just happened.
Can McConnell hold on after this? I’m guessing so which is a testament to how much he must be feared by the caucus.
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i remember freezing like that while giving a speech. but i was 19 and nervous.
this ain’t that.
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The gaslighting is pathetic.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2023/07/26/mcconnell-fine-after-freezing-up-at-press-conference-n2626256
They’re not even trying.
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i wonder if that was a mini-stroke.
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I was thinking TIA.
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He’s worse than Biden.
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i’d agree with TIA
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I felt bad for him…………….but I also feel bad for Feinstein. When it’s time to retire it’s time to retire. I think the same thing about Trump and Biden. I’m 73 and so younger than all of them, and as healthy as I am, I don’t think I’d be capable of handling their responsibilities. It’s too bad neither party has a viable presidential candidate who is younger and acceptable to the electorate!
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It is indeed time for all of them to retire.
That said, I’m getting about sick of Trump. I’d want to see him retire even if he wasn’t too old for the job. I was already not a Biden fan so not much x changing there.
Anyhoo. I think Trump is definitely dedicated to fucking everything up for the Republicans and guaranteeing the Dems win big in 2024. But they all still need to retire.
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lms:
It’s too bad neither party has a viable presidential candidate who is younger and acceptable to the electorate!
Republicans do. Ron DeSantis. He is both young and was “accepted”, twice, by the only electorate his name has been placed in front of.
I suspect that, by “electorate” you actually mean “me”.
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Technically more than twice. He was in Congress too.
Having said that I think lmsinca’s point stands in that he’s not currently leading the Republican primary polls. Trump is.
However, there hasn’t been a single debate yet, let alone an primary election.
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jnc:
Having said that I think lmsinca’s point stands in that he’s not currently leading the Republican primary polls.
That doesn’t make him not acceptable to the electorate.
But that is ultimately irrelevant to lms’s real point, which as I said was almost certainly about what is acceptable to her, not to the electorate.
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Isn’t the real tell on whether a Republican would be an effective POTUS is how far the Democratic establishment would go to stop them?
If any other Republican gets the nomination and is not immediately criminally indicted, how effective were they going to be anyway?
I’m being serious, by the way.
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Good read:
“Hunter Biden And The Fog Of War
What We Don’t Know About Why The Hunter Biden Plea Deal Blew Up
Ken White
Jul 26, 2023”
https://popehat.substack.com/p/hunter-biden-and-the-fog-of-war
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