Economics Update

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H/t Calculated Risk

The news in in real estate so far this week, with U.S. commercial real e3state prices rising for the 3^rd straight month, though, as the Graph pr0n clearly shows, if you own commercial property, and you need to roll over your 5 year mortgage, you are still in a world of hurt, as you are at least 30% under water.

In residential real estate though, it was just plain grim, with existing home sales falling, though the snopocalypse might have something to do with that, and the number of homes for sale jumped by nearly 10%.

In more general economic news, the Chicago Bank of the Federal Reserve's national activity index fells last month, which might also be snow related.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, prices fell in the UK for the first time on 6 months, indicating that the pressures toward deflation continue apace.

In currency, we have the problems with Greece pushing the Euro lower, while in energy, oil rose slightly, to $81.91/bbl, and the price of retail gasoline continues to climb, to $2.81/gallon, up about 80¢ from a year ago.