Outlook for Home Sales

in 2009

Dr. Mark G. Dotzour

Chief Economist
Real Estate Center
at Texas A&M University
Home Sales Volume Determined
by Three Factors

• Job Growth

• The Cost of Mortgage Money

• Positive Home Price Appreciation

Home Price Trends Determined
by One Factor

• Inventory of Unsold Homes

in the Local Market
 Pop Quiz !!
How Much is a Trillion Dollars
?
There are about 300 million
people in the US.

So there are about 116 million

Households in the US.
 Pop Quiz:
How Much is a Trillion Dollars
?

$1,000,000,000,000
116,000,000

=
$8,620
per household
 Another Pop Quiz !!:
How Much is a Trillion Dollars ?

If Americans worked every day

of the year for 8 hours per day
and earned $20 per hour
And paid 100% income tax

How many Americans would it take

to pay back $1 trillion in a year?
 Pop Quiz 2:
How Much is a Trillion Dollars
?
$1,000,000,000,000
($20*365*8)
=
17,123,287

It would take 17 million workers,

who work every day of the year at
$20 per hour to pay back $1 Trillion
 Recessions and Employment
Jobs Jobs % Jobs Months of Max Rate
Peak Lost Lost Decline Unemployment

Nov-43 4.3 million 10.1 % 22 months

Sep-48 2.3 million 5.2 % 12 months 7.9%
Apr-57 2.3 million 4.4 % 14 months 7.5%
Jul-74 2.1 million 2.8 % 9 months 9.0%
Jul-81 2.8 million 3.1 % 16 months 10.8%
Jun-90 1.6 million 1.5 % 11 months 7.8%
Feb-01 2.7 million 2.0 % 29 months 6.3%
Dec-07 3.8 million 4.9% 14 months 8.1% end of 2/09

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Note: Peak Dec07 at 138.078 million

Composition of the US Economy

71.2% Consumer Spending

13.9% Business Investment
20.1% Government Spending
- 5.2% Net Exports
Consumer Confidence Index

Source: The Conference Board

Debt Service Payments
as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income

Source: Federal Reserve Board

 Corporate Profits
(With Inventory Valuation Adjustment & Capital Consumption Adjustment)

Source: Department of Commerce

Gross Private Domestic Investment

Source: Department of Commerce

 Small Business Outlook
“Planning To Hire People In The Next Six Months”

National Federation of Independent Business

 Corporate Hiring Plans:
Next 6 Months

Q4-08 Q3-08 Q2-08 Q1-08

More Jobs 9% 29% 28% 30%

Less Jobs 60% 32% 31% 22%

Source: Business Roundtable

Corporate Earnings Per Share
S&P 500 Operating Earnings

Source: Standard and Poor’s

Investor Concerns
Raise Capital Gains Rate
Raise Income Tax Rates
Print Too Much Money
Destroy the Value of Savings
Government Picks Winners
Government Picks Losers
No Longer Investing
Just Speculating on Gov’t
Business Concerns
Raise Income Tax Rate
Nationalize my industry
Windfall profits tax
Carbon tax
Empower organized labor
Excessive regulation
Dictate what products I sell
Dictate my compensation
Dictate my advertising
Dictate my travel
 The Best Case Scenario
Favorable corporate earnings 4Q09
Stocks rise about four months prior to that
Consumer confidence rises with stocks
House prices/volume continue to fall
Foreclosure pressure continues to be heavy
More spending results in higher profits
Layoffs end by the end of the 2009
“Jobless recovery” in 2010
Higher interest rates and inflation in 2010-11
 The Worst Case Scenario
No effective fiscal package gets passed
Treasury and Fed continue to stumble
Bad banks and businesses propped up
No price discovery for “toxic” mortgages
$25T CDS market doesn’t get unwound
Political risk for business stays high
Business / investors “sit on their hands”
Unemployment goes well over 10%
Commodity deflation and price deflation
 Implications for Housing
• Tax credit will help stimulate buyers
• Mortgage rates at cyclical low in 2009
• Last year the report was 1-2 million vacant
homes , now it’s up to 6 million
• No incentives to buy foreclosed homes
• Homebuilder concessions putting
downward pressure on the markets
• Stocks of homebuilders appear to have
bottomed, and M&A coming
• Bank examiners bias against ADC loans
 Implications for Housing
• Case-Shiller Index overstating the price
declines in housing
• Housing demand will resume when the
threat of price declines diminishes
• Price declines will subside when new
construction bottoms and foreclosures peak
• New home construction in Texas will hit
bottom in 2009 and could rebound sharply
if the US economy starts to mend in 2010.
Housing Starts in the US

Source: Department of Commerce

Employment Growth Rates
Existing Home Sales
Fort Worth

2006

2008
2007

Source: Real Estate Center

Inventory of Unsold Homes
Fort Worth

Jan. 1997 to present

Source: Real Estate Center