News in end use

Existing-home sales rose again in November, building on October’s surprising jump, CREA reported. Sales were up 2.8% and now stand a cumulative 18.4% above May.

Job vacancies declined 5.5% in Q3, representing 31,900 fewer positions and bringing the total to 546,100 open roles. This marks the ninth consecutive quarterly decline.

Asking rents for newly constructed apartments rose 1.5% in Q3—the biggest year-over-year increase in 18 months—to a median $1,802, Redfin reported.

Requests for home tours, mortgage applications, and pending sales are rising as mortgage rates decline from their four-month high in November, Redfin reported.

The total value of building permits issued in October decreased 3.1% to C$12.6 billion. Despite the decline, the value remained the fourth highest in the series.

The Producer Price Index for final demand, seasonally adjusted, increased 0.4% in November. Final demand prices had increased 0.3% in October.

The ABC Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) held steady at a reading of 8.4 months in November. The reading is down 0.1 months from November 2023.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.60%, down from last week when it averaged 6.69%, Freddie Mac reported.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 242,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level.