Beige Book: Housing Weakened Further

Residential lending and housing activity weakened in August, while commercial real estate activity showed more signs of softening, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. Federal Reserve district banks reported that "residential mortgage lending fell in New York and Richmond [Va.], remained slow in Chicago and Dallas, but gained slightly in Philadelphia." The Atlanta and Dallas district banks reported that inventories of unsold houses have edged down since July when the last Beige Book was issued. Meanwhile, CRE activity "moved down or remained weak in all districts, except Dallas," the Beige Book says. "Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago reported signs of softening demand, including declining leasing activity, rising vacancies and decreasing construction."