News in end use

According to the Leading Indicators of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, annual expenditures for improvement and repairs to owner-occupied homes are expected to decline at an accelerating rate through the first half of 2024.

Redfin reported that during the four-week period ending on July 16th, the typical US home sold for $382,500. This is up 2.1% from a year earlier. It is also the largest increase since December 2022.

In the 48 states that report construction sector job data (both residential and nonresidential construction), 33 states reported an increase in June compared to May, while 14 states reported construction sector job losses.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is reporting that mortgage applications for new home purchases in June declined 5.0% month-over-month but were up 26.1% year-over-year.

The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) increased by 9,800, or 2.5%, to 399,000 in May. This is the first increase in EI since July 2022.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported that total existing home sales recorded a 3.3% decline in June from May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.16 million homes. Year-over-year, sales are down 18.9%.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.78%, down from last week when it averaged 6.96%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 5.54%.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) declined 0.7% to a reading of 106.1 (2016=100) in June, after posting a decline of 0.6% in May. The LEI has dropped 4.2% over the six-month period from December 2022 to June.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 228,000 during the week ending on Saturday, July 15th. This is a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 237,000.

Privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a SAAR of 1,434,000. This is 8.0% below the revised May estimate of 1,559,000. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 935,000; this is 7.0% below the revised May figure of 1,005,000.