News in end use

According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completion by Purpose and Design survey, custom home building posted a year-over-year gain for Q1 of 2022. The survey reports that there were 46,000 total custom building starts in Q1 of 2022. This is a year-over-year increase of 28% (Q1 of 2021).

Redfin’s Home Buyer Demand Index (HBDI) posted its largest annual decline since April 2020. Still, desirable homes are getting scooped up at a record pace, a median 15 days on market. The HBDI noted that homebuyers continue to pull back in the wake of record-high purchasing costs. Mortgage purchase applications fell to their lowest level since May 2020.

According to the April Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS), mortgage applications for new home purchases declined -10.6% year-over-year. Compared to March 2022, applications decreased by -14.0%. This change does not include any adjustments typical seasonal patterns.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported on Thursday that total existing home sales dropped -2.4% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted rate at 5.61 million homes. This marks the third consecutive month of existing home sales declines. Year-over-year, however, sales are down -5.9% (5.96 million in April 2021).

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending May 19, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.25% with an average 0.9 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.30%.

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.