News in end use

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that record levels have been reported for investment in residential construction since September 2020, and they reached a new record high of $12.3 billion in February 2021. A majority of the growth is coming from single-family home construction, which rose for a fifth consecutive month, up 9.4% to $6.7 billion in February.

According to HouseCanary’s latest Market Pulse Report (MPR), homes for sale listings volume are down -11.5% year-over-year. In the month of March 2021, 284,298 net new listings were placed on the market, a -0.9% decrease over March 2020. In addition, there were 348,422 listings that went under contract nationwide, which is a 22.7% increase versus March 2020.

Further analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data, provided by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), reveals that construction and nonresidential construction input prices rose 3.5% in March 2021. Construction input prices are 12.9% higher than in March 2020, and nonresidential construction input prices are up 12.4% during that same span.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, seasonally adjusted increased 1.0% in March. Final demand prices rose 0.5% in February and 1.3% in January.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) that analyzes date from the Ellie Mae’s AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool, mortgage credit availability increased in March.

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that employment in Canada increased by 303,000 or 1.6% in March and is now within 1.5% of its pre-COVID-19 level of February 2020. The unemployment rate fell -0.7% points to 7.5% the lowest level since February 2020.

According to the Remodeling Market Index (RMI) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), remodelers confidence was up sharply year-over-year. In Q1 of 2021, the RMI posted a reading of 86, up 38 points from Q1 of 2020.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 744,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 3, 2021 — an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending April 8, 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.13% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.18%.

A deeper look into the Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 2021, Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) with a focus on the construction sector, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that construction job openings declined -3.5% in February, to 266,000 unfilled positions.