The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 406,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, May 22, 2021 — a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.
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Two Year Streak of Increasing Housing Affordability Comes to an Ends in March 2021
According to the latest affordability report from First American Financial Corporation and its Chief Economist Mark Fleming, housing affordability on an annual basis declined in March for the first time since January 2019, signaling the end of a more than two-year streak of rising affordability.
Median Age Of U.S. Construction Workforce
Analysis of the most recent 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) data provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that the median age of construction workers is 41, the same as typical worker in the national labor force.
Mortgage Applications Decline 4.2% in the Week Ending May 21, 2021
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending May 21, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -4.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased- 4% compared with the previous week.
Sales of New Single-Family Home Sales Drop 5.9% in April
The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting that new residential single-family home sales for April 2021 were at a SAAR of 863,000, according to estimates. This is -5.9% below the revised March rate of 917,000 but is 48.3% above the April 2020 estimate of 582,000.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Quarterly House Price Index up 12.6% from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI®), U.S. house prices increased 12.6% from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021. This marks the 39th consecutive quarter of home price increase, or since September 2011. Compared to Q4 2020, house prices were up 3.5%.
S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index Reports Year-Over-Year Home Prices Climbed 13.2% in March
According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, which covers all nine U.S. Census divisions, home prices experienced a 13.2% annual gain in March 2021, up from 12% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 12.8%, up from 11.7% in the previous month.
Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Decline for Twelfth Week in a Row in Week Ending May 16, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 3 basis points from 4.22% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.19% as of May 16, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.1 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
The Conference Board Reports Consumer Confidence Held Steady in May
The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (5-25-21) their Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for May 2021. The CCI held steady in May following gains in April and a strong monthly gain in March. The Index now stands at 117.2 (1985=100), down slightly from 117.5 in April.
Canadian Dollar Closes in on 6-year High as Inflation Concerns Ease
On Friday (5-21-21), the Canadian Dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart as investors worries about U.S. inflation eased, while Canadian domestic data showed retail sales climbing in March and the Canadian Dollar moving close to a six-year high — established earlier in the week and completing its eighth straight weekly advances.