News in end use

In its latest report, Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate broker, is reporting that the typical condo in the U.S. sold above its asking price in June, just the second time since at least 2012. The first time was in the month of May, and is signaling renewed homebuyer competition for condos after a pandemic-fuel slump. Nationwide, the typical condo sold for 0.7% above its asking price in June, following a premium of 0.4% in May.

The Conference Board, which was founded in 1916 as a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank, released Thursday (7-22-21) their June 2021 Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. According to the release, the LEI (which is based on ten separate components) increased 0.7% in June to 115.1 (2016 = 100), following a 1.2% increase in May and a 1.3% increase in April.

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported that total existing home sales — completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops — increased 1.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted rate at 5.86 million homes in June. Year-over-year sales are up 22.9% (4.77 million June 2020).

According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Trend Report (HTR) for Q2 of 2021, 17% of American adults polled indicated that they are considering the purchase of a home within a year. The share (now seasonally adjusted) has increased for five quarters in a row.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending July 22, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.78% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.88%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.01%.

On Wednesday (7-21-21), Statistics Canada (StatsCan) revealed new weights for the basket of goods and services in the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI), with shifts including a higher weighting for the shelter component as housing prices soar. The previous basket update was based on 2017 purchasing patterns.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 419,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, July 17, 2021 — an increase of 51,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

According to the Teranet National Bank’s Canadian Home Composite Price Index (HCPI), Canadian home prices increased in June, marking the largest 12-month gain on record as prices climbed in all 11 markets. The HCPI was up 16% year-over-year, beating the 14.2% rise of June 2017.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending July 16, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume — decreased -4.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased -20% compared with the previous week.

On Tuesday (7-20-21), The U.S. Census Bureau reported that privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,643,000. This is 6.3% above the revised May rate of 1,546,000 and is 29.1% above the June 2020 rate of 1,273,000.