- United States Gasoline (UGA), down 53.2% since Feb. 28 inception
On the housing front, mortgage application volume dropped 6.2% during the week of Nov. 14. The trade group’s application index slipped to 398.6 during the week, down from 425 a week earlier. For perspective, the index peaked at 1,856.7 during the week ending May 30, 2003, at the height of the housing boom, reports Yahoo Finance.
U.S. home construction has fallen to levels not seen since 1959, as builders cut back and Wall Street takes a walk down memory lane, but not by choice. Record-low paces for building homes and apartment buildings are at a snails’ pace, and the new building permits are plunging, which is an indicator of future activity, reports Alan Zibel for Associated Press.
The numbers from the Commerce Department are nostalgic, as they are the lowest on government records dating back to January 1959. Previously, the slowest pace had been in January 1991, when the country was in recession and going through a similar housing correction.
- SPDR Dow Jones Real Estate (RWR), down 50.1% year-to-date
- SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB), down 44% year-to-date
