News in end use

On Friday, the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that new residential single-family home sales for January were at a SAAR of 670,000, according to estimates. This is 7.2% above the revised December rate of 625,000.

In a new report, Redfin said that pending home sales activity, through Redfin agents, rose 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from a month earlier in January. That compares with December’s revised month-over-month increase of 1.4%, which marked the first gain in 14 months.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Friday that according to its estimates, personal income (PI) increased 0.6% in January; disposable personal income (DPI) increased 2.0%; and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased1.8%.

The University of Michigan on Friday released the final results of its Consumer Sentiment Index for February. The Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to a reading of 67.0 in February, up from 64.9 in January. This is a month-over-month increase of 3.2%.

The National Association of Home Builders today released its Multifamily Market Survey for 2022Q4. The two main confidence indexes for multifamily housing increased slightly, but both remain in negative territory. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased 2 points from Q3 to a reading of 34.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® for the week ending February 23rd. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.50%, up from last week when it averaged 6.32%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 3.89%.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released today its “second” estimate for 2022Q4 real gross domestic product (GDP). According to the report, GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.7%. This follows a reported real GDP increase of 3.2% in 2022Q3.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 192,000 during the week ending on Saturday, February 18th. This is a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 195,000.

Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group reported on Tuesday that it continues to expect the economy to fall into a modest recession. The Group now believes the likely start date will be in 2023Q2. The ESR Group reports that housing started 2023 on a relative high note but also sees this as temporary.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the ending February 17th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 13.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined 4.0%.