News in end use

According to Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage firm, the supply of America’s most affordable homes for sale jumped 13% year-over-year in Q3 2021. This occurred as mortgage forbearance programs came to an end, prompting many owners of low-cost homes to put their properties on the market.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (11-5-21) that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 531,000 in October, following a disappointing 194,000 in September, an increase of 235,000 in August, a revised 1.1 million in July, and a revised 962,000 increase in June.

The Mortgage Bankers Association today (11-5-21) released their Q3 2021 Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. According to the survey, mortgage loan originations for these types of properties in Q3 were 119% higher year-over-year and 19% higher from Q2 2021.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (11-5-21) that after returning to its pre-pandemic level in September, employment held steady in October. Employment increases in a number of industries, including retail trade (+72,000), were offset by declines elsewhere, including accommodations and food service (-27,000).

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending November 4, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.14%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.78%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 269,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, October 30, 2021. This is a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level for initial job claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,00.

According to the latest Job Cut Report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C) Inc., a global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm, U.S.-based employers’ announced job cuts rose by 27.5% in October to 22,822 — up from the 17,895 announced in September. This is the highest monthly total since May 2021, when 24,586 cuts were recorded.

Further data from the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) latest Housing Trends Report (HTR) reveals that the share of prospective buyers who are actively searching for a home declined in three of the four Census regions between the Q2 and Q3 of 2021: in the South, from 58% to 51%; in the West, from 72% to 65%; and in the Northeast, from 66% to 65%.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS) for the week ending October 22, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased by -4% compared with the previous week.

According to the October ADP® National Employment Report™, nonfarm private sector employment increased by 571, 000 jobs from September to October. The ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics. The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.