greenbooks · October 30, 2007
Greenbook/Tealbook
Prefatory Note
The attached document represents the most complete and accurate version available
based on original files from the FOMC Secretariat at the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.
Please note that some material may have been redacted from this document if that
material was received on a confidential basis. Redacted material is indicated by
occasional gaps in the text or by gray boxes around non-text content. All redacted
passages are exempt from disclosure under applicable provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act.
Content last modified 02/07/2013.
Class III FOMC - Internal (FR)
October 26, 2007
CURRENT ECONOMIC
AND FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
Supplemental Notes
Prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee
by the staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Contents
The Domestic Nonfinancial Economy ........................................................ 1
Sales and Prices of New Homes ......................................................1
Consumer Sediment .........................................................................1
Orders and Shipments of Durable Goods ........................................2
Tables
Private Housing Activity..................................................................3
Michigan Survey of Consumer Attitudes ........................................5
Orders and Shipments of Nondefense Capital Goods......................6
Charts
Private Housing Starts and Permits..................................................3
Indicators of Single-Family Housing...............................................4
The Domestic Financial Economy .............................................................. 2
Tables
Selected Financial Market Quotations .............................................7
Commercial Bank Credit .................................................................8
-ii-
Supplemental Notes
The Domestic Nonfinancial Economy
Sales and Prices of New Homes
Sales of new homes rose 4¾ percent in September to an annual rate of 770,000 units, but
from an August figure that was revised down nearly 8 percent to an annual rate of
735,000 units. In addition, sales in June and July were both marked down to annual rates
of about 800,000 units. These sales figures were generally in line with our expectations,
given that initial estimates of new home sales have been revised down systematically
over the past two years.1 As for prices, the incoming data provide solid evidence to
support anecdotal reports that builders are now resorting to aggressive price cuts to entice
reluctant buyers.
The inventory of new homes for sale edged down for the seventh consecutive month in
September and is now about 9 percent below the all-time high reached in July of last
year. Even so, these inventories still amounted to 8¼ months’ supply at September’s
sales pace—up from about 6½ months late in 2006 and about twice what we view as the
builders’ desired target.
The constant-quality price index for new homes was down ¾ percent relative to its level
four quarters earlier. This was the first outright four-quarter decline in this index since
1992 and only the fifth such decline since 1964. Average new-home prices—which are
not quality adjusted—were down 2¾ percent in September relative to twelve months
earlier, their third-consecutive twelve-month decline.
Consumer Sentiment
After having been unchanged in September, the Reuters/University of Michigan index of
consumer sentiment fell to 80.9 in October. The decrease was slightly larger than had
been reported in the preliminary estimate released in the middle of the month, implying
that sentiment fell a bit further in the second half of the month. Since July, the level of
sentiment has fallen below what would seem to be consistent with the news on inflation,
the labor market and, until recently, the stock market; the decline may well reflect
households’ continued concerns regarding financial turmoil and unfavorable
1
Since the beginning of 2006, the Census has revised down its initial estimates of new home sales by
an average of about 6 percent.
1
developments in housing markets. The “expected conditions” component of the overall
index decreased significantly between September and October while the “current
conditions” component was unchanged. Nonetheless, both indexes are down noticeably
from their mid-year highs. Among those items not included in the overall sentiment
index, consumers’ expectations about the change in unemployment over the next twelve
months worsened a little in October. Consumers’ appraisals of buying conditions for cars
also softened, as respondents reported less favorable pricing and credit conditions.
However, consumers’ appraisals of buying conditions for houses strengthened in
October, largely because of an increase in number of households noting that prices were
low.
Among households, the median of expected inflation over the next twelve months
remained unchanged at 3.1 percent in October, and the median of expected inflation over
the next five to ten years ticked down to 2.8 percent, the lowest level in two years.
Orders and Shipments of Durable Goods
Shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft rose 1.0 percent in September,
on the heels of an upward-revised increase of 1.8 percent in August; new orders were up
0.4 percent. Within the high-tech category, orders and shipments of computers and
peripherals posted a robust gain in September and were revised up significantly in
August. Orders and shipments of communications equipment also rose in September.
Outside of the high-tech sector, shipments increased at a solid rate last month on top of
upward revisions to August, while orders were flat.
The three-month moving average of the staff’s constructed series on real adjusted durable
goods orders increased in September for the sixth month in a row. This series—which
strips out nondefense aircraft, defense capital goods, and industries for which reported
orders actually equal shipments—is an indicator of near-term industrial production.
The Domestic Financial Economy
2
Private Housing Activity
(Millions of units, seasonally adjusted; annual rate except as noted)
2007
Sector
All units
Starts
Permits
Single-family units
Starts
Permits
Adjusted permits1
Permit backlog2
New homes
Sales
Months’ supply3
Existing homes
Sales
Months’ supply3
Multifamily units
Starts
Permits
Permit backlog2
Mobile homes
Shipments
Condos and co-ops
Existing home sales
2006
Q1
Q2
Q3
July
Aug.
Sept.
1.80
1.84
1.46
1.56
1.46
1.46
1.30
1.32
1.37
1.39
1.33
1.32
1.19
1.26
1.47
1.38
1.41
.133
1.17
1.12
1.14
.132
1.17
1.05
1.07
.116
1.00
.94
.97
.112
1.06
1.01
1.03
.115
.98
.93
.96
.115
.96
.88
.92
.112
1.05
6.36
.85
7.64
.86
7.65
.77
8.30
.80
8.08
.74
8.67
.77
8.15
5.68
6.35
5.63
7.12
5.15
8.34
4.72
9.26
5.00
8.75
4.79
8.95
4.38
10.07
.336
.461
.062
.288
.440
.076
.298
.411
.081
.296
.384
.076
.313
.381
.081
.347
.388
.077
.228
.384
.076
.117
.094
.099
.099
.097
.801
.790
.767
.750
.690
n.a.
.700
n.a.
.660
1. Adjusted permits equal permit issuance plus total starts outside of permit-issuing areas.
2. Number outstanding at end of period. Excludes permits that have expired or have been canceled,
abandoned, or revoked. Not at an annual rate.
3. At current sales rate; expressed as the ratio of seasonally adjusted inventories to seasonally adjusted
sales. Quarterly and annual figures are averages of monthly figures.
n.a. Not available.
Private Housing Starts and Permits
(Seasonally adjusted annual rate)
Millions of units
Millions of units
1.0
2.0
.9
1.8
Single-family starts (right scale)
.8
1.6
.7
1.4
.6
1.2
Single-family adjusted permits (right scale)
.5
Sept.
.4
.8
.3
.6
Multifamily starts (left scale)
Sept.
.2
.1
.0
1.0
.4
.2
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Note. Adjusted permits equal permit issuance plus total starts outside of permit-issuing areas.
3
2006
2007
.0
Indicators of Single-Family Housing
Homebuying Indicators
Thousands of units
Thousands of units
1500
1400
Existing home sales (right scale)
New home sales (left scale)
7500
Index
150
7000
140
1300
6500
1200
6000
1100
5500
1000
5000
900
4500
800
4000
700
3500
Content partially redacted.
Home Sales
130
120
110
100
90
Source. For existing homes, National Association of
Realtors; for new homes, Census Bureau.
Source. For pending home sales, National Association
of Realtors.
Content partially redacted.
New Home Sales
Months' Supply
Mortgage Rates
Months
Percent
9
9
30-year jumbo FRM
30-year conforming FRM
1-year conforming ARM
8
7
Months' supply (right scale)
6
8
7
5
6
4
3
5
2
4
3
Note.
. Months'
supply is calculated using the 3-month moving average of sales.
Source.
; for months' supply, Census Bureau.
Note. The Oct. readings are for data through Oct. 24, 2007.
Source. Conforming rates are from Freddie Mac. The
jumbo rate is the sum of the 30-year conforming FRM rate
and the jumbo conforming spread from bankrate.com.
Prices of Existing Homes
Prices of New Homes
Percent change from year earlier
Percent change from year earlier
Repeat transactions, purchase-only index
Average price of homes sold
Case-S hiller price index
25
30
Constant quality index
Average price of homes sold
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
-5
-5
~uu~~uu~~~uu~~uu~~~uu~~-10
Note. Average price values have been adjusted by
Board staff to take into account new sampling procedures
adopted in 2005.
Source. Census Bureau.
Note. The Case-Shiller price index is the 10-city index.
Source. For repeat transactions, OFHEO; for average
price, National Association of Realtors; for Case-S hiller,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
4
October 26, 2007
Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers
Indexes of consumer sentiment
(Not seasonally adjusted)
2007
Category
Composite of current and expected conditions1
Current conditions1
Expected conditions1
Personal financial situation
Now compared with 12 months ago2
Expected in 12 months2
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept. Oct.P
Oct.F
88.4
103.5
78.7
87.1 88.3
104.6 105.1
75.9 77.6
85.3
101.9
74.7
90.4
104.5
81.5
83.4
98.4
73.7
83.4
97.9
74.1
82.0
98.2
71.6
80.9
97.6
70.1
111
126
119
127
113
125
110
117
115
125
103
120
109
119
111
116
111
119
95
94
87
90
97
89
94
88
105
96
87
88
82
96
84
86
78
84
Appraisal of buying conditions
Cars
Large household appliances2
Houses
138
157
137
132
152
138
124
160
135
118
154
131
125
156
129
133
152
118
139
144
123
133
143
134
128
142
131
Expected unemployment change - next 12 months
123
129
120
125
123
131
127
133
130
Prob. household will lose a job - next 5 years
22
18
19
23
21
24
21
21
21
Expected inflation - next 12 months
Mean
Median
3.6
3.0
4.0
3.3
4.3
3.3
4.2
3.4
4.2
3.4
4.0
3.2
4.0
3.1
3.5
3.0
3.7
3.1
Expected inflation - next 5 to 10 years
Mean
Median
3.3
2.9
3.6
3.1
3.7
3.1
3.3
2.9
3.6
3.1
3.4
2.9
3.4
2.9
3.0
2.8
3.1
2.8
Expected business conditions
Next 12 months2
Next 5 years2
Note. Figures on financial, business, and buying conditions are the percent reporting ’good times’ (or
’better’) minus the percent reporting ’bad times’ (or ’worse’), plus 100. Expected change in unemployment
is the fraction expecting unemployment to rise minus the fraction expecting unemployment to fall, plus 100.
P Preliminary.
F Final.
1. Feb. 1966 = 100.
2. Indicates the question is one of the five equally-weighted components of the index of sentiment.
Expected inflation
Consumer sentiment
1966 = 100
130
1985 = 100
180
160
Percent
5
5
120
4
Reuters/Michigan (right scale)
140
4
Median, 5 to 10 years ahead
110
120
3
100
100
Sep.
90
80
Oct.
80
3
Oct.
2
2
Median, 12 months ahead
1
60
40
Conference Board (left scale)
2000
2002
2004
1
70
2006
2008
60
0
5
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
0
Orders and Shipments of Nondefense Capital Goods
(Percent change; seasonally adjusted current dollars)
2007
Category
Q2
Q3
July
Annual rate
Aug.
Sept.
Monthly rate
Shipments
Excluding aircraft
Computers and peripherals
Communications equipment
All other categories
9.7
9.6
11.9
12.6
9.0
8.3
5.0
-23.7
16.3
7.4
1.0
.0
-15.1
1.0
1.5
1.6
1.8
16.2
2.4
.5
.2
1.0
2.2
1.0
.9
Orders
Excluding aircraft
Computers and peripherals
Communications equipment
All other categories
34.2
13.0
7.5
64.2
9.6
-2.7
1.4
-7.3
8.2
1.7
4.8
.9
-12.1
7.6
1.7
-12.2
-.1
14.4
-3.0
-1.2
4.4
.4
1.1
3.2
.0
Memo:
Shipments of complete aircraft1
40.2
n.a.
42.5
51.3
n.a.
1. From Census Bureau, Current Industrial Reports; billions of dollars, annual rate.
n.a. Not available.
Non-High-Tech,
Nontransportation Equipment
Communications Equipment
20
17
14
Billions of chained (2000) dollars, ratio scale
Shipments
Orders
58
20
17
14
11
11
8
8
52
2
190
42
42
37
37
5
2000
2002
2004
2006
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Note. Shipments and orders are deflated by a price index
that is derived from the BEA’s quality-adjusted price indexes
and uses the PPI for communications equipment for
monthly interpolation.
2000 = 100
2
32
Billions of chained (2000) dollars
22
15
130
13
110
11
90
9
2004
2004
2006
2006
1040
900
17
150
2002
2002
1240
19
Sept.
2000
2000
2000
2002
2004
2006
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Note. Shipments and orders are deflated by the staff
price indexes for the individual equipment types included
in this category. Indexes are derived from the BEA’s
quality-adjusted price indexes.
32
Medium and Heavy Trucks
Industrial production (left scale)
Real M3 shipments (right scale)
170
70
47
Sept.
Computers and Peripherals
220
58
52
47
Sept.
5
Billions of chained (2000) dollars, ratio scale
Shipments
Orders
2008
2008
7
6
1240
1040
900
760
760
620
620
480
480
340
Sept. 340
200
Note. Ratio scales. Shipments are deflated by the staff
price index for computers and peripheral equipment, which
is derived from the BEA’s quality-adjusted price indexes.
Thousands of units, ratio scale
Sales of class 4-8 trucks
Net new orders of class 5-8 trucks
2000
2002
2004
2006
Note. Annual rate, FRB seasonals.
Source. For sales, Ward’s Communications;
for orders, ACT Research.
2008
200
III-T-1
Selected Financial Market Quotations
(One-day quotes in percent except as noted)
2004
2006
Change to Oct. 25 from
selected dates (percentage points)
2007
Instrument
June 28
June 29
Sept. 17
Oct. 25
2004
June 28
2006
June 29
2007
Sept. 17
1.00
5.25
5.25
4.75
3.75
-.50
-.50
1.36
1.74
4.88
5.06
4.05
4.15
3.84
3.88
2.48
2.14
-1.04
-1.18
-.21
-.27
Commercial paper (A1/P1 rates)2
1-month
3-month
1.28
1.45
5.27
5.37
5.23
5.25
4.71
4.74
3.43
3.29
-.56
-.63
-.52
-.51
Large negotiable CDs1
3-month
6-month
1.53
1.82
5.47
5.59
5.52
5.36
4.85
4.74
3.32
2.92
-.62
-.85
-.67
-.62
Eurodollar deposits3
1-month
3-month
1.29
1.51
5.33
5.49
5.55
5.60
4.81
5.00
3.52
3.49
-.52
-.49
-.74
-.60
Bank prime rate
4.00
8.25
8.25
7.75
3.75
-.50
-.50
Intermediate- and long-term
U.S. Treasury4
2-year
5-year
10-year
2.88
3.97
4.90
5.26
5.15
5.28
4.12
4.18
4.58
3.77
3.97
4.48
.89
.00
-.42
-1.49
-1.18
-.80
-.35
-.21
-.10
U.S. Treasury indexed notes5
5-year
10-year
1.60
2.26
2.51
2.61
2.04
2.15
1.77
2.03
.17
-.23
-.74
-.58
-.27
-.12
Municipal general obligations (Bond Buyer)6
5.01
4.71
4.46
4.33
-.68
-.38
-.13
Private instruments
10-year swap
10-year FNMA7
10-year AA8
10-year BBB8
10-year high yield8
5.21
5.38
5.60
6.25
8.41
5.81
5.59
6.20
6.74
8.74
5.17
5.01
6.05
6.46
8.95
4.98
4.88
5.86
6.23
8.68
-.23
-.50
.26
-.02
.27
-.83
-.71
-.34
-.51
-.06
-.19
-.13
-.19
-.23
-.27
Home mortgages (FHLMC survey rate)
30-year fixed
1-year adjustable
6.21
4.19
6.78
5.82
6.34
5.65
6.33
5.66
.12
1.47
-.45
-.16
-.01
.01
Short-term
FOMC intended federal funds rate
Treasury bills1
3-month
6-month
Record high
2006
Change to Oct. 25
from selected dates (percent)
2007
Stock exchange index
Dow Jones Industrial
S&P 500 Composite
Nasdaq
Russell 2000
Wilshire 5000
Level
Date
June 29
Sept. 17
Oct. 25
Record
high
2006
June 29
2007
Sept. 17
14,165
1,565
5,049
856
15,807
10-9-07
10-9-07
3-10-00
7-13-07
10-9-07
11,191
1,273
2,174
714
12,846
13,403
1,477
2,582
776
14,839
13,672
1,514
2,751
806
15,311
-3.48
-3.24
-45.51
-5.80
-3.14
22.17
18.98
26.51
12.85
19.19
2.00
2.56
6.55
3.91
3.18
1. Secondary market.
2. Financial commercial paper.
3. Bid rates for Eurodollar deposits collected around 9:30 a.m. eastern time.
4. Derived from a smoothed Treasury yield curve estimated using off-the-run securities.
5. Derived from a smoothed Treasury yield curve estimated using all outstanding securities and adjusted for the carry effect.
6. Most recent Thursday quote.
7. Constant-maturity yields estimated from Fannie Mae domestic noncallable coupon securities.
8. Derived from smoothed corporate yield curves estimated using Merrill Lynch bond data.
_______________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
June 28, 2004, is the day before the most recent policy tightening began.
June 29, 2006, is the day the most recent policy tightening ended.
September 17, 2007, is the day before the most recent FOMC announcement.
7
_______________________________________________________________________
Commercial Bank Credit
(Percent change, annual rate, except as noted; seasonally adjusted)
Type of credit
Total
Level1
Oct. 2007p
2005
2006
H1
2007
Q3
2007
Aug.
2007
Sept.
2007
Oct.
2007p
10.5
9.7
9.2
12.1
17.0
16.1
6.7
8,646
Loans2
Total
To businesses
Commercial and industrial
Commercial real estate
11.6
11.0
9.8
12.2
19.7
18.2
7.0
6,519
13.5
17.1
16.4
13.9
9.6
11.3
24.0
7.7
31.5
8.1
44.3
8.2
38.3
1.2
1,379
1,554
To households
Residential real estate
Revolving home equity
Other
Consumer
Originated3
Other4
11.9
13.3
11.4
3.1
.7
8.3
7.0
1.4
9.2
5.9
6.9
12.2
8.4
1.8
10.7
6.3
5.1
13.4
5.6
6.4
5.3
10.5
10.2
18.8
1.7
9.2
-.8
3.9
9.0
74.5
8.5
11.2
7.6
11.6
9.3
23.1
-.5
11.8
-4.6
-4.3
.4
-3.4
1,856
471
1,385
779
1,176
951
7.5
2.4
17.5
5.9
2.0
12.6
7.6
-4.5
26.2
12.0
4.6
21.8
8.8
-.2
20.8
9.7
-21.2
49.6
5.8
-40.7
62.6
2,127
1,125
1,002
Securities
Total
Treasury and agency
Other5
Note. Yearly annual rates are Q4 to Q4; quarterly and monthly annual rates use corresponding average levels. Data
have been adjusted to remove the effects of mark-to-market accounting rules (FIN 39 and FAS 115), the consolidation of
certain variable interest entities (FIN 46), the adoption of fair value accounting (FAS 159), and the effects of sizable
thrift-to-bank and bank-to-thrift structure activity in October 2006, March 2007, and October 2007. Data also account for
breaks caused by reclassifications.
1. Billions of dollars. Pro rata averages of weekly (Wednesday) levels.
2. Excludes interbank loans.
3. Includes an estimate of outstanding loans securitized by commercial banks.
4. Includes security loans and loans to farmers, state and local governments, and all others not elsewhere classified.
Also includes lease financing receivables.
5. Includes private mortgage-backed securities, securities of corporations, state and local governments, foreign
governments, and any trading account assets that are not Treasury or agency securities, including revaluation gains
on derivative contracts.
p Preliminary.
8
Cite this document
APA
Federal Reserve (2007, October 30). Greenbook/Tealbook. Greenbooks, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/greenbook_20071031_part2
BibTeX
@misc{wtfs_greenbook_20071031_part2,
author = {Federal Reserve},
title = {Greenbook/Tealbook},
year = {2007},
month = {Oct},
howpublished = {Greenbooks, Federal Reserve},
url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/greenbook_20071031_part2},
note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}