News in end use

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported on Monday (6-27-22). their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI), which is based on […]

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced on Friday that new residential single-family home sales for May 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rated (SAAR) of 696,000, according to estimates. This is 10.7% above the revised April rate of 629,000 but is -5.9% below May 2021.

In its latest report, Redfin, reported that for the week ending June 19, homebuying demand pulled back further as mortgage rates reached their highest level in since 2009. Redfin’s Homebuyers Demand Index—which measures buyers request for home tours, offers, and other requests for agents’ help—posted its largest decline in over 2 years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Thursday that, according to its Purchase Applications Payment Index, which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time (relative to income) using data from MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey, homebuyer affordability was mostly unchanged in May.

The University of Michigan today released its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index for June. The Index of Consumer Sentiment dropped to a reading of 50.0, down from May’s reading of 58.4. This is a month-over-month decrease of -14.4% and down -41.5% year-over-year (85.5 in June 2021).

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending June 23, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.81% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.78%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.02%.

The US Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 229,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, June 18, 2022. This is a decline of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 223,500.

Statistics Canada reported today that 20,000 fewer Canadians, or -3.8%, received regular employment insurance benefits in April. That brought the total number of beneficiaries to 496,000. In comparison, there were 1.2 million, or -70.2%, fewer regular EI beneficiaries in April of 2022 than in May of 2021.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending June 17, the Market Composite Index increased 4.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3.0% compared with the previous week.

A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment report for May and its impact on the construction sector, reveals that nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia, compared to April, while 18 states lost jobs.