News in end use

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released today its “third” estimate for 2022Q3 real gross domestic product (GDP). According to the report, US GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in Q3, following declines of 0.6% in Q2 and 1.6% in Q1.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® for the week ending December 22, 2022. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.27%, down from last week when it averaged 6.31%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 3.05%.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US in November declined 1.0% in November to a reading of 113.5 (2016=100), following a 0.9% decline in October and a 0.5% drop in September. The LEI has dropped 3.7% over the six-month period from May to November.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 216,000 during the week ending on Saturday, December 17, 2022. This is an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 214,000 (originally reported as 211,000).

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Thursday that according to its Purchase Applications Payment Index, which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time (relative to income), homebuyer affordability improved in November. The national median payment applied for by applicants dropped 1.8%.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending December 16th, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) increased 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Statistics Canada reported today that the Consumer Price Index increased 6.8% year-over-year in November, following a 6.9% increase in October. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.4% year-over-year in November, following a gain of 5.3% in October.

The Conference Board released today its Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for December 2022. The CCI, following back-to-back monthly declines, rose precipitously. The Index now stands at 108.3 (1985=100), up from November’s reading of 101.4.

According to the National Association of Home Builder’s analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey, the owner vacancy rate fell below 0.9% and rental vacancy rates reached a new low of 5.2%. These are the lowest levels recorded by the ACS since the survey started generating this data in 2005.

The National Association of Realtors® reported on Wednesday that total existing home sales—completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops—recorded a 7.7% decline in November to a seasonally adjusted rate at 4.09 million homes.