Increased interest rates, asking prices taking a serious bite out of home sales

 - by New Deal democrat

I have a new post up at XE.com on new and existing home sales.  Total home sales are off -13.5% from their peak 9 months ago, as higher interest rates and an overshoot on increasing home prices is taking a serious bite out of the market

Yield Curve Is Flattening

Above is a chart of the difference between the 30 and 5 year CMTs -- constantly maturing treasuries.  Since the beginning of December, this spread has been declining. 

The reason for the decrease is a rally in the long-end of the curve as the 30 year CMT has decreased from ~ 3.9 to ~3.5, or a decrease of about 40 basis points.  That tells us that traders don't see inflationary pressures.

Treasuries Are the Surprise Year to Date Winner

When the Fed announced an end to the quantitative easing program, the treasury market sold off.  The reason is simple: the largest buyer of treasuries had announced they were leaving the market.  However, since January 1, treasuries have outperformed the market as a whole.

When we compare long treasuries, SPYs, commodities (DBC) and the dollar (UUP) since January 1, treasuries again outperform.