Strategy in TECH...
Almost weekly now, we are regularly seeing new data showing the dramatic slowdown of the housing market. A case in point is the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association which tracks the weekly demand for mortgages for both home purchases and for refinancing. The Association reported that its index hit its lowest level in demand for mortgages in 22-years.
Sales of newly constructed homes virtually collapsed in April in a double-digit decline that surprised economists and added to the growing evidence that the housing market is entering a downturn. This downturn in housing adds to growing concerns of a recession, as it comes on the heels of the tech industry decline, and new retailer warnings of slackening demand and supply chain driven cost increases.
In yet another sign of a slowing economy, April residential housing construction starts declined for the second straight month in a row. At the same time, the Housing Market Index, a key gauge of homebuilder confidence, collapsed in May.
I’ve put together a compendium of data that emerged this week that continues to point to the reality of a slowing economy. The picture gets clearer as more economic measures, including non-traditional measures like the Fluffy Puppy Indicator and home foreclosures reinforce the thinking of economists that more drastic action by the Fed to get inflation under control may lead us into the “R” word…recession.
Ever since supply chain shortages hit many industries, particularly in relation to the availability of integrated circuits or chips, there has been a massive scramble to increase capacity and to build new chip fabricating facilities (fabs) or factories. There has been a series of announcements from huge companies like Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Samsung, and others launching massive multi-billion projects to add more chip production facilities.
There’s just one problem…the equipment they need to build these facilities are themselves delayed.
A new analysis that correlates consumer confidence by income level has produced a shocking red flag for any business that offers goods and services to the luxury customer – as do many custom integrators. Fire up your sensors and watch closely to see if clients in your market are subject to this alarming trend.
For three straight months now, consumer sentiment has declined as the world faces war in Europe, soaring global gas prices, price inflation on a wide range of consumer goods, and lingering supply chain issues. As measured by the widely followed University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment released earlier this month, the index is nearing its lowest level in 11-years.
Here we go again! Yet another major blow has been dealt to the supply chain, this time from another round of COVID-19 hitting China, forcing lockdowns in many critical areas of the country – including Shenzhen. You may or may not know that much of the electronics goods manufactured in China come out of the Shenzhen region – so we all have a direct connection to the impact of this development. Add to this, new reports of container costs rising again and transportation disruptions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What’s next?
The U.S. economy showed great positive momentum in 2021 with the gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a record pace, recouping much of the drop in GDP in 2020. In fact, a new report from Axios shows that the current GDP growth trend is now within just 1% of the pre-pandemic trend.
New residential sales data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show a sharp rise in the sale of newly constructed homes for the month of December. This is the second month in a row when sales of new homes rose as compared to the sales the previous month and are at the highest rate of sales since March – a nine-month high.
