President Biden, on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021, issued an executive order that called on the federal departments and to the extended their bans on evictions and foreclosures through at least the end of March.
News in end use
Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Lower in Week Ending January 21st, 2021
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending 21st January 2021. The PMMS reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77% with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.79%.
Remodeler Confidence Remained High in Q4 2020
The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) is reporting in their Q4 2020 Remodeling Market Index (RMI) had a reading of 79. The reading shows remodelers’ strong confidence in their markets, for projects of all sizes, in spite of the ongoing negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weekly Jobless Claims Decline Slightly in the Week Ending January 16th, 2021
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 900,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday January 16th. A decrease of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
Housing Starts and Permits Up in December and Year-Over-Year
The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,669.000. This is 5.8% above the revised November estimate of 1,578,000 and is 5.2% above the December 2019 rate.
Dodge Data & Analytics Reports Total Construction Starts Declined in December and Year-Over-Year
According to Dodge Data & Analytics, one of North America’s leading providers of commercial construction project data and workflow integrated solutions for the construction industry, in December total construction starts lost -5%, failing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $784.3 billion.
RE/MAX Holding Inc., Reports December Year-Over-Year Home Sales 21.9% Higher
According to new data released by RE/MAX, home sales during December increased by 6.2% from November and year-over-year were 21.9% higher. December will go down in the 2020 history books as the fifth busiest month for homes sales in the year and December 2020 sales were greater than all but two months in 2019.
Shares of Mortgages in Forbearance Declined in Week Ending January, 10th 2021
The latest Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Survey reports that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased from decreased from 5.46% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 5.37% as of January 10, 2021.
Mortgage Applications Decline 1.9% in Week Ending January 15th, 2021
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending January 15th, 2021, the Market Composite Index , a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Builder Confidence Declines Further in January
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) /Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) indicates that builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes declined 3-points to a reading of 83 in January.