News in end use

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported on Tuesday that September’s standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts for all areas in Canada was at its highest level since November 2021, coming in at 299,589 units.

The Conference Board released today the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the US in September 2022. According to the report, the LEI for the US declined 0.4% in September. The LEI has dropped 2.8% over the six-month period from March to September 2022.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported on Thursday (10-20-22) that total existing home sales recorded a 1.5% decline in September from August to a seasonally adjusted rate at 4.71 million homes—the eighth consecutive monthly decline.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending October 20th. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.94% with an average 0.9 point, up from last week when it averaged 6.92%.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 214,000 during the week ending on October 15; this is a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 226,000.

The US Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,439,000. This is 8.1% below the revised August estimate of 1,566,000 and is 7.7% below the September 2021 rate of 1,559,000.

The Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (IBoC) says that Hurricane Fiona caused an estimated $660 million (CAD) in insured damages. The IBoC says the storm was the costliest extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada.

Statistics Canada reported today that the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.9% in September on a year-over-year basis, reduced slightly from its 7.0% gain in August. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1%.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending October 14, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reported that builder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes tumbled 8-points lower in October to a reading of 38—half the level it was just six months ago. This marks the tenth consecutive decline.