Fannie Mae on Thursday (4-7-22) reported its Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) for March. According to the HPSI, consumer home purchasing sentiment declined by 2.1 points in March to a reading of 73.2. Year-over-year, the HPSI is down 8.2 points. On net, the “Good Time to Buy” component set a new survey low.
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Home Prices Climb 11.3% Between January and February 2022
Home prices climbed nationally from the end of January 2022 to February 2022 at an annualized rate of 11.3%. In February, home prices across the U.S. rose at a slower pace than in January but continued to appreciate at higher rates compared to the same time last year.
An Increasing Number of Home Sellers Are Dropping Their Prices—Is the Housing Frenzy Starting to Ease?
According to Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage firm, an increasing number of home-sellers are dropping their prices, yet another sign that the early 2022 housing frenzy is starting to ease as mortgage rates rapidly approach 5%.
Mortgage Credit Availability Declines in March as Lending Standards Tighten
The MCAI declined by -0.7% to a reading of 125.1 in March. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.
Canadian Employment Increases and Unemployment Edges Lower in March 2022
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (4-8-22) that total employment rose by 73,000 (+0.4%) in March, driven by an increase of 93,000 (+0.6%) in full-time work. The unemployment rate fell -0.2 percentage points to 5.3% in March, which is the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1976.
Mortgage Rates Climb for the Fifth Successive Week in the Week Ending April 7, 2022
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending April 7, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.72% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.67%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.13%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending April 2, 2022
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 166,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 2, 2022. This is a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
Canadian Investors Expect the Bank of Canada to Raise Interest Rate in Half-Percentage-Point Increments
As the outlook for Canada’s inflation rate continues to worsen, Canadian investors are betting that the Bank of Canada (BoC) will begin hiking its key interest rate in half-percentage-point increments, with the first of rarely used upsize moves possibly coming as soon as this month.
Mortgage Applications Drop in the Week Ending April 1, 2022, Marking the Fourth Consecutive Decline
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending April 1, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) declined -6.3 % on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Construction Labor Shortage is Nothing New to Residential and Non-Residential Builders
The current labor shortage across the U.S. is nothing new to the construction industry. During the homebuilding boom in the early 2000s, there was a lack of construction workers. The Great Recession and the resulting housing market collapse, which in turn created the foreclosure crisis, caused that shortage to end.