November 4, 2016
Friday’s Government Reports Roundup
- A paper by Colin Caines of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, titled Can Learning Explain Boom-Bust Cycles in Asset Prices? An Application to the US Housing Boom, argues that boom-bust behavior in asset prices can be explained by a model in which boundedly rational agents learn the process for prices. The key feature of the model is that learning operates in both the demand for assets and the supply of credit.
- John C. Williams of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco delivers a speech titled, Measuring the Effects of Monetary Policy on House Prices and the Economy.
- The Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index for August was up 5.4% over the same month last year, driven by its purchase component, which had an 18.6% increase. August’s Multi-Indicator Market Index was 85.7, its highest level since August 2008. This was a 1.05% increase over July. The index has continually increased on a month-to-month basis since December 2011, except for October 2013 and January 2015.
- Purchases of new U.S. homes in September stayed close to an almost nine-year high, showing residential real estate was maintaining momentum heading into the quieter selling season. Sales climbed 3.1 percent to a 593,000 annualized rate from an August pace that was weaker than initially reported, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 600,000 pace in September. Purchases in June and July were revised lower.
