Why investors should keep an eye on existing home sales this week
Next week is relatively slow, data-wise
This week is a short week with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and not a lot of market-moving data. Tuesday and Friday have no economic data, and only Thursday has anything meaningful. The Markit PMI and existing home sales will be the highlights. We’ll also get the FHFA House Price Index, which should show home prices are now within 10% of their peak levels. Note that the FHFA index doesn’t include the entire market—just the properties that have a conforming mortgage.
Economic data this week
Monday, January 20
Martin Luther King Jr. day: Markets closed
Tuesday, January 21
No data
Wednesday, January 22
MBA Mortgage Applications
Thursday, January 23
Initial jobless claims
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort
Chicago Fed National Activity Index
Markit PMI
FHFA Home Price Index
Existing home sales
Leading economic indicators
Kansas City Fed
Friday, January 24
No data
Earnings reports this week
No real estate–related earnings this week.
Impact on mortgage REITs
Mortgage REITs like Annaly (NLY), American Capital Agency (AGNC), and MFA Financial (MFA) are highly interest rate–sensitive. There’s nothing next week that should be all that important to the REITs, although the Markit PMI will give clues as to the strength of the economy. REITs that focus on origination will pay attention to the existing home sales number.
Impact on homebuilders
Next week contains a lot of data that will be of concern to the builders. The existing home sales data will be of interest to builders like Lennar (LEN) and Standard Pacific (SPF). The Markit PMI will give clues about the continuing manufacturing recovery.
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