News in end use

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) was released today (2-8-22) and reports that 54.2% of new and existing homes sold between October 1 and December 31, 2021 were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $79,900. This is down from the Q3 2021 reading of 56.6%.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), one of the largest small business associations in the U.S., reported today (2-08-22) that their NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased slightly in January to 97.1, down -1.8 points from December. For the month of January, of the ten components that make up the Index, one improved, while seven declined and two were unchanged.

Fannie Mae today (2-7-22) released their Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) for January 2022. The HPSI distills information about consumers’ home purchasing sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI for January decreased -2.4 points to 71.8 in January, its lowest level since May 2020, as affordability constraints continue to weigh on the housing market.

HouseCanary, Inc., the San Francisco-based technology and data-forward national real estate brokerage firm, has released its latest Market Pulse Report (MPR) covering 22 listing-targeted measures and comparing data between January 2021 and January 2022. The Market Pulse is an ongoing review of proprietary data and insights from HouseCanary’s nationwide platform.

According to a new report from CBRE Group Inc., 2021 was a record-breaking year for the multifamily housing industry. In Q4 2021, total investment volume was $148.9 billion, a 73% quarter-over-quarter increase. This growth brings 2021’s total investment to $335.3 billion, which is nearly double the previous record of $193.1 billion set in 2019.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (2-4-22) that Canadian employment fell by 200,000 (-1.0%) in January, and the unemployment rate increased 0.5 percentage points to 6.5%. The total number of unemployed people increased by 106,000 (+8.6%) to 1.34 million. This marks the first increase in the unemployment rate in nine months.

A closer look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Nonfarm Payroll Report, with a specific emphasis on the construction industry and analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that employment in the construction sector overall declined by 5,000 in January — ending six consecutive months of increases.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (2-4-22) that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 467,000 in January. Nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 19.1 million since April 2020 but is down by -2.9 million, or -1.9%, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending February 3, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55% with an average 0.8 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.73%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 238,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, January 29, 2022. This is a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 255,000.