News in end use

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 3-points lower in September to a reading of 46. This marks the ninth consecutive monthly decline.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced that the trend in housing starts in August was 267,309 units, up from 264,467 units reported in July. This “trend” measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates.

The Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to a reading of 59.5 in September, up from its reading of 58.2 in August. This is month-over-month increase of 2.2% but down 18.3% year-over-year (72.8 in September 2021).

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending September 15, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.02% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.89%.

Canadian Real Estate Association data reveals that national home sales in Canada slowed modestly in the August, decreasing 1% month-over-month. This marks the sixth consecutive month-over-month decline in housing; however, it was the smallest of the six.

A deeper look into the Bureau of Labor Statistics August Producer Price Index (PPI), with a focus on building, reveals that price of building materials rose (not seasonally adjusted) 0.5% in August. Prices increased even as softwood lumber prices declined 5.2% in the month.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that, seasonally adjusted, an additional 213,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on September 10th. This is a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised-lower level of 218,000.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending September 9th, the Market Composite Index decreased 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, seasonally adjusted, declined 0.1% in August. The August drop follows a 0.4% decline in July, but it was proceeded by advances of 1.0% in June, 0.8% in May, and 0.4% in April.

Statistics Canada reported today that investment in building construction continued its upward trend which commenced in October 2021, increasing 0.8% to $21.0 billion (CAD) in July. Both the residential sector and non-residential sector posted increases.