Market Studies

Restrained by drops in farm income and sequester-driven cuts in government programs, personal income slipped $5.6 billion in April while personal consumption spending dropped $20.5 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. Though the income drop was less than one percent (0.04 percent), and it was less than the 0.1 percent increase forecast by economists who also expected April spending to be flat compared to March.

Encouraging economic data helped lift fixed mortgage rates to their highest level in the past year this week, according to surveys from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac's survey showed the 30-year fixed rate rising to an average 3.81 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending May 30, up from last week's 3.59 percent. Since the beginning of May, the 30-year fixed average has jumped up nearly half a percentage point. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) also soared this week, rising to 2.98 percent (0.7 point) from last week's 2.77 percent.

Another spike in home prices drove Massachusetts sales down for the third straight month in April, according to the Warren Group. The group reported 3,504 single-family home sales in the Bay State in April, a 1 percent decline from last year. The median price for single-family homes sold in April was $313,000, a 14 percent year-over-year spike.

Over the last year, sales for distressed properties showed steep declines amid a backdrop of slower foreclosure activity and rising prices, according RealtyTrac's foreclosure and short sale report. The share of foreclosure-related sales represented 21 percent of all sales in Q1, down from 25 percent a year ago. At its peak in Q1 2009, foreclosure-related sales accounted for 45 percent of all sales. In addition, the share of properties that were not in foreclosure but sold as a short sale fell to 15 percent, down 10 percent from Q4 2012 and down 35 percent from a year ago.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose a disappointing 0.3 percent to 106.0 in April, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday. Both the new homes sales and the pending home sales reports measure contract signings and are designed to be forward looking indicators. With the month-over-month improvement, the PHSI is 10.3 percent above April 2012, the strongest year-over-year gain since October when the PHSI was up 12.1 percent from a year earlier. The index has improved month-over-month in three of the last four months.

The nation's economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, slightly slower than originally reported, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. At the same time, corporate profits in the first quarter were $1.97 trillion, down almost $44 billion from the fourth quarter. The last time corporate profits showed a quarter-over-quarter decline was in the first quarter of 2012. Corporate profits are considered a key indicator of employment trends. Residential fixed investment was essentially unchanged from the initial report at $397.3 billion.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in the last four weeks, increasing 10,000 to 354,000 for the week ending May 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Younger Americans are more likely to have a home that is underwater, according to a survey from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation). Based on survey findings, 25 percent of Americans between 18 and 34 years of age said they have an underwater mortgage. On the other hand, 18 percent of adults aged 35 to 54 said they were underwater. The survey also reported more than half of Americans would not be prepared to cover living expenses if a financial emergency, such as a job loss or sickness, were to occur.

Together, commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the FDIC earned record profits in the first quarter, while the number of ""problem"" banks continued to decline. According to the FDIC, net income for FDIC-insured institutions reached an an all-time high of $40.3 billion in Q1, up by 15.8 percent from last year. FDIC's list of ""problem"" banks was reduced for the eighth straight quarter, decreasing to 612. Two years ago, 888 banks were on the list.

Foreclosure inventory continued to shrink in April, with the number of homes in some stage of the foreclosure process down 24 percent year-over-year, according to data from CoreLogic. About 1.1 million homes sat in foreclosure inventory in April compared to 1.5 million properties a year ago, CoreLogic reported. The data provider also reported the number of homes lost to foreclosure decreased 16 percent year-over-year in April to 52,000.