The MReport Webcast: Wednesday 5/27/2015

Morgan Stanley recently released a report discussing the minutes from the April 28th to 29th Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting titled, FOMC: Resolve Stirred, Not Shaken. The company reported that despite the weak economic data that has been presented this year, the Fed still intends to raise interest rates. However, the committee is unsure as to which meeting the rate increase will be enacted. The committee did not anticipate weak economic growth for the first half of the year.

The committee reviewed factors such as weather, port disruptions, energy capex cuts, dollar effects on exports, and seasonal measurement bias, and came to the conclusion that these afflictions are temporary and “economic growth would return to a moderate pace over the rest of this year.” The report says that a June rate increase is no longer likely and the increase is expected to occur at the December FOMC meeting, followed by a pause as policymakers assess its effect on financial conditions.

According to jointly released estimates by HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new single-family houses in April 2015 increased 6.8 percent from last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000 units. The March rate was 48,000 units and is 26.1 percent above the estimate of 410,000 units for April 2014. The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2015 was $297,300, while the average sales price was $341,500.