News in end use

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported on Tuesday (7-13-21) that according to its latest ABC member survey conducted between June 20 and July 6, 2021, its Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) rose to 8.5 months for June. The latest report is 0.5 months higher than the May 2021 report and 0.4 months higher than in June 2020.

According to a recently released report from Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage, the number of offers written by their agents that faced competition declined from 72.1% in May to 65% in June — well below the pandemic peak of 74.1% in April of this year. Nonetheless, that is higher than the 56.6% bidding war rate Redfin saw in June 2020.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) today (7-14-21) released its flash/early estimate of the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) for June 2021. A final release will be issued on July 30, 2021. According to the report, the IPPI decreased by -0.4% month over month in June. However, year-over-year, the index was up 16.2%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today (7-14-21) that the Producer Price Index for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 1.0% in June. Final demand prices rose 0.8% in May, 0.6% in April, 1.0% in March and 0.5% in February. On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index moved up 7.3% for the 12 months ended in June.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending July 9, 2021, the Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume, which includes an adjustment for the 4th of July holiday — increased 16.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased -7% compared with the previous week.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.9% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.6% in May. This is largest 1-month change since June 2008 when the index rose 1.0%. Over the past 12-months, the all-item index has increased 5.4% before seasonal adjustment.

The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased 11 basis points from 3.87% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.76% as of July 4, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 1.9 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that investment in building construction modestly slowed in May, declining -1.9% to $19.4 billion (CAD). This was the first drop in building construction since April of 2020. Residential construction investment was down -2.7% to $14.8 billion in May, with declines in both single and multifamily construction.

According to Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest monthly CREF Loan Performance Survey, the delinquency rates for mortgages backed by commercial and multifamily properties held steady in June. The MBA developed the survey to better understand the ways the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting commercial mortgage loan performance. The survey reveals that 95.2% of outstanding loan balances were current, unchanged from May.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), new single-family starts expanded at an accelerated pace in 2020. Nationally, 993,635 new single-family units were started in 2020.