News in covid 19

The U.S. Bureau of 0Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that total nonfarm payroll employment was basically unchanged in January 2021, increasing by only 49,000 from December. According to the BLS the improvement in the labor markets reflects the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it.

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS) for Q4 2020. According to the report U.S. homeownership rate declined to 65.8% in Q4. Year-over-year the national homeownership vacancy rated decreased, while the rental vacancy rate was flat.

According to the August ADP National Employment Report® nonfarm private sector employment increased by 174,000 jobs from December to January. The ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.

Smith Leonard’s latest Monthly Furniture Insight survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors reported November was another month of continuing improvement. New orders were up 17% year-over-year in November.

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance remained unchanged relative to the prior week at 5.38% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of January 24, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending January 28th, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.73% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.77%.

The latest Housing Trend Report (HTR) from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that the share of Americans who are considering the purchase of a home in the next 12 months was 15% in the Q4 of 2020, four percentage points higher than a year earlier and the largest year-over-year gain in the 3+year history of this series.

President Biden, on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021, issued an executive order that called on the federal departments and to the extended their bans on evictions and foreclosures through at least the end of March.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending 21st January 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.79%.

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) is reporting in their Q4 2020 Remodeling Market Index (RMI) had a reading of 79. The reading shows remodelers’ strong confidence in their markets, for projects of all sizes, in spite of the ongoing negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.