The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that privately‐owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,496,000.
News in end use
Builders Confidence in Newly Built Single-Family Homes Matches Record High Set in 1988
According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) \ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) builder’s confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes increased by six points in August to a reading of 78.
Construction Input Prices Rise Again in July
A deeper dive into the recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index (PPI) by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reveals that construction input prices rose 1.9% in July when compared to those in June.
COVID-19 Pandemic Resulted in Elevated Loan Qualification Standards in the Second Quarter.
The latest release of the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion survey reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic and its widespread economic hardship caused many banks to elevate their qualification standards across all credit classes of household and business loans.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Adds New 0.5% Fee to Refinance Mortgages Effective September 1st
On Thursday, August 13th, 2020, The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), along with the two governmental sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that effective September 1st, that any refinance mortgage loan sold Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will include a new adverse-market refinance fee of 0.5%.
Respondents to FEA’s Weekly Order Survey are Reporting Slightly Slower Sales
Dealers responding to the Weekly Order Survey are reporting that while their businesses remain steady to strong, the pace was slightly slower than in previous weeks.
Builders Struggles with Acquisition, Development and Construction Financing Continued in Q2 of 2020
The results of the latest National Association of Home Builders financing for Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C) survey reveals that credit continued to tighten in the second quarter of 2020.
Weekly Jobless Claims Dips Below One Million Claims for the Week Ending August 8th, 2020
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 963,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday August 8th.
Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Decrease for Eighth Week in a Row
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Forbearance and Call Volume Survey for August 10th, revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 23 basis points from 7.67% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 7.44% as of August 2, 2020.
Multifamily/Commercial Borrowing Declines -48% in Second Quarter of 2020
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association year-over-year commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were -48% lower in the second quarter of 2020. A decline of -31% from the first quarter of 2020.