News in end use

Redfin reported today (4-25-22) that 65% of home offers written by their agents faced competition on a seasonally adjusted basis in March. That is down from a revised 66.7% in February. It also marks the first month-over-month decline since September of 2021. It also marks the first month-over-month decline since September of 2021.

Zillow Group is reporting that quickly rising mortgage rates continue to negatively impact affordability that has been brought on by record home value growth. As a result, monthly mortgage payments on a typical U.S. home are currently 19.5% higher than they were just 3-months ago and are 38% higher year-over-year.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported on Friday (4-22-22) that the Canadian Industrial Produce Price Index (IPPI) rose 4.0% month-over-month in March 2022. This increase is the largest monthly change on record since the series started in 1956. Growth was mainly driven by higher prices for refined petroleum products.

A closer look at the National Association of Home Builders’ latest Housing Trend Report reveals that 67% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in 2022 Q1 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. Forty-eight percent of respondents said it was because of their inability to find an affordable home.

The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (3-18-22) the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. in March 2022. According to the report, the LEI for the U.S. increased by 0.3% in March to 119.8 (2016=100), following a 0.6% increase in February.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending April 21, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.11% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.00%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.97%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 184,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 16, 2022. This is a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 177,250.

The National Association of Realtors® reported on Wednesday that total existing home sales dropped -2.7% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted rate at 5.77 million homes. This marks the second consecutive month of declines.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the week ending April 15, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) declined -5.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (4-20-22) that Canadian consumer prices increased 6.7% year-over-year in March 2022, one percentage point higher than the gain in February (+5.7%). This was the largest increase since January 1991 (+6.9%).