Escape From LA! US Home Prices “Cool” To 15.77% YoY In July As Fed Tightens (Miami And Tampa FL Only Metro Areas Over 30% YoY) 12 Of 20 Metro Areas Experienced NEGATIVE Growth From June To July

Welcome to DeSantisville! Miami and Tampa Florida are the only metro areas in the nation (at least of the top 20 metro areas) growing at >30% growth in home prices.

But at the national level, the Case-Shiller National home price index “cooled” to 15.77% growth YoY as The Fed continues to tighten.

My former home, Phoenix AZ, finally is no longer the fastest growing metro area in terms of home prices, relinquishing the crown to Miami and Tampa FL.

It almost seems that people are trying to escape the mess Gavin Newsome made in California and are escaping to Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Texas. But note that all 20 metro areas are positive in growth YoY, but 12 of the top 20 metro areas experienced NEGATIVE growth from June to July.

Any questions as to whether The Fed is killing the housing and mortgage markets??

On a different note, we see all hell breaking out in Great Britain. Like the US, Great Britain’s inflation is off the charts and the Bank of England is scared about the Pound getting pounded with BofE tightening.

Is FLA governor Ron DeSantis actually Snake Pliskin??

Why Is Everything I Consume Going Up By >10% When The Inflation Rate Is “Only” 6.3% YoY? (Under Biden, Gasoline Is UP 55%, Foodstuffs UP 47%, Electricity UP 957%, Rents UP 12.5% YoY)

According to the BLS, US core inflation is 6.3% and headline inflation is 8.3% YoY. But everything I consume seems to be going up at a much faster rate?

Under Biden, regular gasoline price is UP 55%, CRB Foodstuffs UP 47%, rents UP 12.5% YoY and electricity is UP 957%.

And as The Fed continues to signal monetary tightening, the spread between 30Y FNCL Par Coupon and the 10-year Treasury yield keeps growing.

In case you watched the Buffalo Bills play the Miami Dolphins yesterday, you may remember this punt by the Dolphins. It almost perfectly represents what The Federal Reserve and Biden Administration are doing to the American middle class and low-wage workers.

More On Worst Bond Bubble Burst Since 1949! US Yield Curve Inverts To Lowest Since 2000 (US Mortgage Rate Climbs To 6.59%, UP 129% Under Biden)

And I thought the Washington Commanders QB Carson Wentz getting sacked nine times in a game against his former team was bad!

We start the week with another chapter of “The Worst Bond Bubble Burst Since 1949.” This time its the US Treasury 10yr-2yr yield curve inverted to its lowest level since 2000.

Then across the pond, the UK sovereign yield curve is also inverted. But this curve is only inverted to 2008 levels of The Great Recession. The UK 2-year sovereign yield is up over 50 basis points this morning.

Then we have the US Dollar Swaps curve (green line), steeply UPWARD sloping until 6 months, then declining. The same goes for the US Treasury Actives curve (blue line), except that is it steeply upward sloping out to 1 year then begins declining.

And then we have the Bankrate 30-year mortgage rate rising to 6.59%, up 129% since Biden was sworn-in as President.

Also declining since Powell unleashed his monetary Panzers on the economy and financial markets are 1) agency MBS and 2) S&P 500 index.

The stock market’s value is down $7.6 trillion since Biden took office.

When I saw Carson Wentz of the Washington Commanders getting sacked 9 times, I thought maybe Prince Harry was playing instead. Or maybe Meghan Markle.

Price Harry is on the left, Commanders QB Carson Wentz is on the right.

The Great Recession, Part Deux? Evidence From the S&P 500, Treasury Bonds, Mortgage-backed Securities And The Unemployment Rate (Doesn’t Look Good)

Are we looking at The Great Recession, Part Deux?

First, let’s look at the S&P 500 index since August 24, 2020 (white line) and compare that to just before The Great Recession 04/15/06 – 05/17/08. They look pretty similar.

Second, let’s look at returns on long-term US Treasuries (10yr+, white line) and US mortgage-backed securities (gold line) since The Fed undertook “Operation Crush Inflation!” (green line).

I saw The President’s press secretary fielding questions about the declining stock returns and impending recession. She responded “But the labor market is strong!” Well, Ms. Karine Jean-Pierre, I am sure President’s Biden economic advisor Jared Bernstein told you unemployment was at a very low level just prior to 1) The Great Recession and 2) The Great Covid-shutdown Recession). So, claiming that the US employment market is strong economy ignores that unemployment will surge if the economy slows … which is what The Fed is trying to do.

There is a rush to hedge the downside with The Fed tightening the monetary noose.

Unfortunately, KJP’s feeble answers to the shriveling economy remind me of The Office episode when Dunder-Mifflin’s CEO said that “Dunder-Mifflin is still a strong economy.”

Here is a photo of Joe Biden with his press secretary explaining that the US economy is still strong.

US Mortgage Payments Up 45.5% YoY Thanks To Fed Tightening Caused By Bidenflation

Biden’s green energy policies (limiting supply) caused a tremendous surge in energy prices and food prices (one has to pay to get food shipped!). But in order for The Fed to cool inflation, they are in the process of tightening their loose monetary policy since late 2008.

One of the consequences (intended or unintended) is that as mortgage rose, homebuyer mortgage payments rose 45.5% YoY.

Fed Raises Target Rate By 75 BPS As Recession Looms, DOT Plots Signals Rates Rising To 4.625% In 2023 Then Reverting Back To 2.5% (Mortgage Rate Rises To 6.38%)

As expected, The Federal Reserve raise their target rate by 75 basis points today. While that sounds like an inflation (blue line)-crushing rate hike, look at the slowly shrinking Fed Balance Sheet (gold line).

Of course, the risk of a recession (dark blue line) is on the increase.

Given the increasing likelihood of a recession, The FOMC’s Dots Project shows The Fed’s target rate increasing to 4.625% in 2023, then gradually declining to 2.5% in the long run.

Fed Funds Futures data points to a peak in May 2023.

And with The Fed’s tighten-up, Bankrate’s 30yr mortgage rate rose to 6.38%.

Why is The Fed so slow to reduce its prodigious balance sheet if they REALLY wanted to fight inflation? So we can’t really say that The Fed has been turned loose to fight inflation.

Fed Garbage? MBA Applications Rise As Households Panic About The Fed Raising Rates (Refi Applications Still 83% Lower YoY, Purchase Applications 30% Lower YoY)

As people are painfully aware, The Federal Reserve is on a mission … to hike interest rates to tame inflation back to 2%.

So, we saw a small surge in mortgage applications last week as the expectations of Fed rate hikes sinks in and households try to lock in mortgage rates.

Mortgage applications increased 3.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 16, 2022. Last week’s results include an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.

The Refinance Index increased 10 percent from the previous week and was 83 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 11 percent compared with the previous week and was 30 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

At least the percentage of ARMs remained the same, 9.1%.

The Federal Reserve has a line on you! Or noose.

By the way, the theme song for the US version of the TV show “The Office” was written by Jay Ferguson, the primary singer for the ’60s band Spirit (that performed “I’ve Got A Line On You!”).

Here is Jay Ferguson singing the Spirit song “Fresh Garbage.” A fitting song for The Federal Reserve. Fed Garbage??

Today will be another Fed rate hike, expected to be a whopping 75 basis points. The S&P 500 tends to rally (green line) after the FOMC announcement. What will happen today?

US Housing Starts Decline -0.1% YoY In August (But Apartment Starts UP 28.57% MoM!) As Fed Removes Monetary Stimulus

The US is short on housing stock and remains short in August. While housing starts in August seems fantastic (12.8% MoM), the YoY growth in housing supply is down -0.1% as mortgage rates soar and The Fed removes monetary stimulus.

On a month-over-month (MoM) basis, 1-unit (single family detached) were up only 3.43% in August. 5+ unit (multifamly) starts were up 28.57% in August.

Since the Biden Administration has allowed over 2 million illegal to flow across the southern border, apartment space is in high demand.

According to RentCafe, the hottest rental markets in the USA are Miami, Orlando, SW Florida and … Harrisburg PA (the temporary home of uber-leftist PA Lt Governor John Fetterman). Perhaps Fetterman is letting illegal immigrants stay in his Harrisburg mansion, unlike President Obama on Martha’s Vineyard.

Why isn’t Biden letting illegal immigrants stay in his massive summer mansion in Reboboth Beach, DL?

C’mon man!

The Core! US 30y Mortgage Rate Rises (US Futures Fall as Traders Eye Supersized Fed Hike)

Even Obama’s economic advisor, Larry Summers, is wondering why Biden won’t allow pipelines to be build to reduce energy prices and reduce inflation.

Having said that, US mortgage rates are now the highest since 2008 and continue to rise with the expectation of more Fed rate hikes this year. Even core inflation is on the rise motivating The Fed to do more tightening since they aren’t receiving any help from Biden on energy or Congress in terms of massive spending of our money.

Mortgage payments for a median existing home in the US is back to the mid-1980s.

Data from Fed Funds futures implies that The Fed will raise their target rate to 4.50% by March 2023, then slowly lower rates.

Futures are down with the prospect of a 75 basis point bump in rates tomorrow. The Dow Jone Mini is down -167 points.

Powell’s Famous Chili! National Association of Home Builders Market Index Falls More Than Expected To 46 As Fed Tightens Monetary Noose (Lowest Since 2012, Excluding Covid Crash)

The National Association of Home Builders market index fell more than expected in September to 46, the lowest reading since 2012 (if I exclude the Covid economic shutdown).

Note that the NAHB market index is declining along with at the increase in the 30yr mortgage rate.