Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending August 12, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.87% percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.77%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.96%.
News in end use
Weekly Jobless Claims Continued to Decline in the Week Ending August 7, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 375,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, August 7, 2021 — a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
Home Buyers and Sellers Have Differing Views in Latest Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Survey
The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index®(HPSI), which reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis, decreased 3.9 points to a reading of 75.8 in July. This occured as consumers continue to report concerns related to high home pries and a lack of homes for sale.
Mortgage Application Volume Rebounds in the Week Ending August 6, 2021
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending August 6, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — increased 2.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3% compared with the previous week.
Consumer Price Index Increases 0.5% in July, 5.4% Year-Over-Year
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Wednesday (8-11-21) that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.9% in June. Over the past 12-months, the all-item index has increased 5.4% before seasonal adjustment.
Japanese Housing Starts Post 4th Consecutive Monthly Gains
Total housing starts in Japan posted their fourth consecutive monthly increase in June, rising 7.3% to 76,312 units. Owner occupied housing increased 10.6%, while rental housing rose 11.8%.
Lot Values for Single-Family Detached Homes Built in 2020 Reached New Record High Levels
According to the latest Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) data, with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), lot values for single-family detached homes started in 2020 surged 18%. This resulted in the median lot price reaching a new record high of $53,000.
Forbearance Exits Increased and New Forbearance Requests Declined in Week Ending August 1, 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 7 basis points from 3.47% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.40% as of August 1, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.7 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.
Consumer Debt Spikes in Q2 2021
The Federal Reserve Board has released the Q2 2021 G-19 Report. The G-19 reveals that in Q2 2021, non-real estate-secured consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 8.8%. Revolving debt increased by 10.7% and nonrevolving debt increasing by 8.3%.
Q2 2021 Preliminary Nonfarm Business Productivity and Costs Report Released
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday (8-10-21) that nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.3% in Q2 of 2021. This occured as output increased 7.9% and hours worked increased 5.5% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).