US Home Prices decline in S&P/Case-Shiller Index for January. Consumer Confidence falls. - CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

March 25, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Home Prices decline in S&P/Case-Shiller Index for January. Consumer Confidence falls.

Home prices in the U.S. continue to decline according to the Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released today that showed home prices fell in January compared to a year ago. The S & P’s/Case-Shiller Index measures sales prices of existing single-family homes nationally and tracks 10-city and 20-city composite home price measurements. The report showed that the 10-city composite index dropped a record 11.4 percent in January while the 20-city composite fell 10.7 percent when compared to January 2007. Miami and Las Vegas showed the biggest declines in home prices nationally as each registered a 19.3 percent drop while Phoenix followed closely with a 18.2 percent decline. Charlotte was the only housing market of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked that showed a one year positive price growth with home prices increasing by 1.8 percent.

Consumer Confidence drops in March Survey.

Consumer confidence declined to a five-year low according to a report released today by the Conference Board, which produces the Consumer Confidence Index. In a survey of 5,000 households, the index showed that consumer confidence declined about 12 points from 76.4 in February to currently standing at 64.5 in March. The Present Situation index dropped from 104.0 in February to 89.2 in March while the Expectations index fell from 58.0 in February to 47.9 in March. The confidence index is its lowest point since March of 2003 while the expectations index is at its lowest level in 35 years. According to the survey, consumers saw a more negative outlook for March in the present-day conditions, short-term expectations and the job market than the February survey results. The survey also registered lower scores this month in business conditions as more consumers rated business conditions as bad and the outlook for business conditions as worse for 6 months from now.

The U.S. dollar reacted negatively to the news as it has lost ground against the majors this morning. The dollar fell against the Japanese yen with an approximate 60 pip drop coming right after the consumer confidence news release before climbing back up to trading around 100.00 yen per dollar.

Tags: consumer confidence, conference board, S&P/Case-Shiller Index, house prices, us dollar, currency trade, forex

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