Tanking Housing Market a Red Flag for the Broader Economy

It’s getting harder and harder to deny recession reality. Even as the Biden administration tries to spin itself out of that reality with a propaganda campaign, many in the mainstream seem to be waking up.

On Monday (July 25), Reuters reported that the tanking housing market is a red warning flag signaling a recession.

The air is hissing out of the housing bubble faster and faster every day. Pending sales plunged in June and the inventory of homes on the market jumped as mortgage rates continue to rapidly rise.

Since the beginning of the year, existing home sales have slid by 21.1%. This coincides with a rapid ramp-up of mortgage rates. The average 30-year mortgage rate has pushed up to nearly 6.4%.

Last week, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) housing market index builder sentiment plunged to its lowest since May 2020. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said new housing starts fell 2% in June to a nine-month low.

With the Federal Reserve pushing its base rate up 75 basis points, and most expecting another 3/4% hike in July, you can expect mortgage rates to continue their rapid upward climb. As Reuters noted, the housing market is “the sector most sensitive to interest rates,” and it’s losing speed.

According to the latest Reuters report, the “previously booming housing market is falling back to earth amid a broader economic cooldown.” [Emphasis added]

With the Federal Reserve set to jack up interest rates again this week, Wall Street is on alert for signs of recession, and recent housing data suggests the sector may be a harbinger of a cooling economy.”

One analyst told Reuters that the housing markets and homebuilding are “cyclical movers”

“We’re in late-cycle pre-recession,” he said.

That would imply that the next part of the cycle is a full-blown recession.

The housing bubble is just one of the many economic distortions caused by the government and the Federal Reserve’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fed blew up a housing bubble when it artificially suppressed interest rates and bought billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities. Now the central bank has pricked the bubble by pushing rates up.

The Fed also blew a lot of air into the broader economy. It’s pricked that bubble as well.