News in end use

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that on a year-over-year basis the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.6% in May, up from a 3.4% gain in April. This is largest yearly increase since May 2011. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.5% year-over-year.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending June 11, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — increased by 4.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15% compared with the previous week.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is reporting that the trend in housing starts was 280,779 units in May 2021, up slightly from 278,462 units in April 2021. This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) is up by 3.1% month-over-month in May, marking the IPPI’s sixth consecutive monthly increase. Year-over-year, the IPPI was up 16.9% — the largest increase since January 1975 when it was up 17.7%.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) is reporting that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes declined 2 points to a reading of 81 in June. This is its lowest level since August of 2020 and after builder confidence topped at a level of 90 last November.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (6-15-21) that the Producer Price Index for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 0.8% percent in May. Final demand prices rose 0.6% in April and 1.0% in March and 0.5% in February.

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 12 basis points from 4.16% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.04% as of June 6, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate that still 2 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

According to Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage company, the number of buyers who locked in mortgage rates to purchase a second home nationwide rose 48% year-over-year in May. While that is a lofty number, it is the first time in a year that annual growth rate fell below 80%.

According to the latest results from the Federal Reserve’s Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States, also known as the ‘Flow of Funds”, with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Q1 of 2021, the aggregate market value of all owner-occupied real estate in the US registered the largest numerical quarterly increase in the last 20 years’ worth of data.

According to Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), which analyzes data from the Ellie Mae’s AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool, mortgage credit availability increased in May. The MCAI rose by 1.4% to 129.9.