Home prices, confidence probably firmed: US economy preview

NEW YORK: The plunge in U.S. home prices probably eased further and consumer confidence climbed, giving the economy a lift heading into 2010, economists said before reports this week.

Property values in 20 metropolitan areas probably fell 7.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the smallest 12-month drop since 2007, according to the median forecast of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a Dec. 29 report from S&P/Case-Shiller. Household sentiment improved in December for a second month, another report the same day may show.

The housing market, at the center of the worst recession since the 1930s, may keep improving as administration and Federal Reserve efforts to lift sales and lower borrowing costs take hold. Best Buy Co. and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. were among retailers sweetening discounts heading into the holidays, giving consumers an incentive to boost spending.

“Job losses are lessening, home prices are stabilizing and stocks continue to ratchet higher,” said Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “All these contribute to a rebound in confidence. Stabilization in home prices is one of the key things to get more optimistic about a sustainable recovery.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index has been rising on a month-to-month basis since May, the first series of gains since the measure started dropping in August 2006.

The New York-based Conference Board’s consumer confidence index may rise to 53 from 49.5 in November, according to the survey median. The measure reached a record-low 25.3 in February.

A drop last month in the unemployment rate, rising incomes and holiday bargains probably gave sentiment a boost, economists said. Best Buy offered some DVDs for half off and Jos. A. Bank, a men’s clothing chain, deepened discounts to at least 50 percent. Merchants were trying to draw procrastinators and shoppers delayed by the East Coast storms.

To help ensure housing doesn’t weaken again, President Barack Obama and Congress last month extended a tax credit for first-time homebuyers until April 30, from Nov. 30, and expanded it to include some current owners.

Existing home sales in November rose to a 6.5 million annual rate, the highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

“The tax credit had the intended impact of drawing buyers in and lowering inventory,” Lawrence Yun, the real-estate agents group’s chief economist, said in a news conference. “An estimated 2 million buyers have taken advantage of the credit.”

The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding Index is up 22 percent since the end of June as the housing outlook brightened.

An unemployment rate near a 26-year high and mounting foreclosures remain risks for the housing market and the economy. Joblessness will exceed 10 percent in the first half of 2010, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed this month.

Foreclosure filings in 2009 will reach a record for the second consecutive year with 3.9 million notices sent to homeowners in default, RealtyTrac Inc. This year’s filings will surpass 2008’s total of 3.2 million, the Irvine, California- based company said Dec. 10.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey’s largest homebuilder, said Dec. 16 its fourth-quarter loss narrowed as more buyers signed purchase contracts. “On the whole, we are seeing more price stability across our markets,” Chief Financial Officer Larry Sorsby said in a Dec. 17 conference call. -- Bloomberg