News in end use

The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (5-19-22) the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. in April of 2022. According to the report, the LEI declined -0.3% to a reading of 119.2 (2016=100), following a 0.1% increase in March and a 0.6% increase in February.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 218,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, May 14, 2022. This is an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 199,500.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Wednesday (5-18-22) that privately‐owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,724,000. This is -0.2% below the revised March estimate of 1,728,000 but is 14.6% above the April 2021 rate of 1,505,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 1,100,000.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completion by Purpose and Design report for Q1 of 2022, with additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the single-family built-for-rent sector (SFBFR) continues to expand as housing affordability hurdles continue to increase.

Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology powered real estate company, reported today (5-18-22) that, nationwide, 60.7% of home offers written by Redfin agents in April encountered competition on seasonally annual adjusted basis. This is the lowest level seen since March of 2021. The statistic is down from a revised rate of 63.4% in March.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the week ending May 13, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) declined -11.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined -11.0% compared with the previous week.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (5-17-22) that the investment in building construction in March rose 1.8% to $20.3 billion (CAD), a new record high. Gains were reported in both the residential and non-residential sector. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction increased 1% to $12.3 billion.

On Tuesday (5-17-22), The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) reported that builder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes tumbled -8 points lower in May to a reading of 69. This marks the fifth consecutive month that builder sentiment has declined.

According to the new monthly Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Loan Monitoring Survey (LMS), the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by -11 basis points from 1.05% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.94% as of April 30, 2022. The MBA estimates that 470,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported today (5-16-22) that the trend in housing starts in Canada was 257,846 units in April, up from 253,226 units in March. This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of housing starts.