News in end use

According to the latest release from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the trend in housing starts increased from 252,444 units in May to 258,295 units in June, an increase of 5,851 units. This trend measure is a six-month average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reported today that builder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes tumbled 12 points lower in July to a reading of 55. This marks the seventh consecutive month of declines, and with the exception of April 2020, is the lowest reading since June 2020.

The Canadian Real Estate Association reported on Friday that home sales recorded on the Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 5.6% between May and June 2022. Year-over-year, the actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions in June 2022 came in 23.9% below June 2021 levels.

Redfin is reporting that the number of homes for sale nationwide increased by 2% in June—the first annual increase since July of 2019. Year-over-year, home sales have declined nearly 16%—the largest decline since May of 2020.

Fannie Mae, in its latest Home Price Index (FNM-HPI), reported that single-family home prices in Q2 of 2022 increased at the annualized rate of 19.4%. This is down slightly from Q1’s upwardly revised rate of 20.5%. On a quarterly basis, home prices rose a seasonally adjusted 4.3% in Q2 of 2022.

The University of Michigan today released its Preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index for July. The Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to a reading of 51.0 in July, up from its 50.0 reading in June. This is a month-over-month increase of 2.2%.

Statistics Canada reported today that investment in building construction edged 0.2% lower in May to $20.6 billion. The downward movement is the result of many of Ontario’s unionized construction workers being on strike during the month. Excluding Ontario, investment increased 1.1% at the national level.

The National Association of Home Builders/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) was released today. The RMI posted a reading of 77 in Q2 of 2022, declining 10 points from Q2 of 2021. This is the largest year-over-year decrease since the survey was redesigned in Q1 of 2020.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (7-14-22) that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 1.1% in June. On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices moved up 11.3% for the 12 months ending in June.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending July 14, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.51% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.30%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.88%.