Index

Residential Remodeling Index

Diana Olick at CNBC mentioned a remodeling index from BuildFax this week:

A remodeling index from Texas-based BuildFax shows a national surge in remodeling work toward the end of the year, which appears to be continuing now.

It seem to me that requires a graph!

The BuildFax Residential Remodeling Index is based on the number of properties pulling residential construction permits in a given month.

Sure enough – as Diana Olick noted – there has been a “surge in remodeling work” with November close to the levels of 2004 through 2006, and the strongest December since BuildFax started the index in 2004.

Note: permits are not adjusted by value, so this doesn’t mean there is more money being spent, just more permit activity.

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Tags: Index, Remodeling Index

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 Financial Glossary No Comments

Philly Fed Index shows contraction in August, first time since July 2009

Here is the Philadelphia Fed Index: Business Outlook Survey

The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from a reading of 5.1 in July to ‐7.7 in August. The index turned negative, marking a period of declining monthly activity for the first time since July 2009 (see Chart). Indexes for new orders and
shipments also suggest a slowing this month
; the new orders index fell slightly, to ‐7.1, while the shipments index turned negative, declining to ‐4.5. Indicating weakness, indexes for both delivery times and unfilled orders remained negative this month.

The percentage of firms reporting a decline in employment (23 percent) was higher than the percentage (20 percent) reporting an increase.

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Tags: Fed Index, Index

Monday, August 16th, 2010 Financial Glossary No Comments