News in end use

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 14 basis points from 4.36% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 4.22% as of May 9, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.1 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the trend in housing starts was 279,055 units in April 2021, up month-over-month from 272,164 units in March.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales in Canada declined 12.5% on a month-over-month basis in April. However, March was a record setting month.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) reports that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family home was unchanged in May from April’s reading of 83. Builder confidence topped at a level of 90 in November 2020.

According to HouseCanary, the San Francisco based, valuation-focused real estate brokerage which provides software and service to the real estate marketplace, latest data indicates that the housing shortage could linger for a while. However, there might be hope on the horizon.

Analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of April’s Producer Price Index data provided by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reveal that construction input prices increased 1.3% in April 2021, when compared those of March 2021. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 1.6% in April.

The University of Michigan released today (5-14-21) its preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) for May 2021. Month-over-month the ICS declined -6.2% from 88.3 in April to 82.8 in May. When compared to May 2020, the ICS increased 14.5% from May 2020 reading of 72.3.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending May 6, 2021. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.94% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.96% percent. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.28%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 473,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, May 8, 2021 — a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (5-13-21) that the Producer Price Index for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 0.6% percent in April. Final demand prices rose 1.0% in March and 0.5% in February.