News in end use

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, with further analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that custom home building (homes not intended for sale) in Q3 2021 matched the best quarter for construction starts since the spring of 2008.

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Survey on Acquisition, Development & Construction (ADS&C) in Q3 2021, the effective interest rates increased in all four categories of loans tracked. The Q3 results reversed a general downward trend that has been ongoing since Q3 of 2020.

According to the RE/MAX National Housing Report for October 2021, which was released on Thursday (11-18-21), home sales fell -6.4% from September’s totals — nearly double the typical seasonal decline. The report notes that in the month of September home sales experienced near-record sales levels, which certainly contributed to the month-over-month decline.

According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Multifamily Market Survey (MMS), sentiment on the production of new and occupancy in existing multifamily housing improved in Q3. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased 5 points from the previous quarter to a reading of 53, while the Multifamily Occupancy Index (MOI) also increased by 5 point to a reading of 75.

The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (11-18-21) the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. in October. According to the report, the LEI for the U.S. increased by 0.9% in October to 118.3 (2016 = 100), following a 0.1% increase in September and a 0.7% increase in August.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 268,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, November 13, 2021 — a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial job claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,00.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 268,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday November 13, 2021 — a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial job claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,00.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending November 10, 2021. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.10% with an average 0.7 point up from last week when it averaged 2.98%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.72%.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Wednesday (11-17-21) that privately‐owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,520,000. This is -0.7% below the revised September rate of 1,530,000 but is 0.4% above the October 2020 rate of 1,514,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 1,039,000, which is -3.9% below the revised September figure.

Further analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that the number of single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) construction starts reached its highest quarterly volume on record in Q3 2021. During Q3 2021, there were approximately 16,000 single-family built-for-rent starts.