The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that they expect purchase originations to grow 8.5% to a new record of $ 1.54 in 2021.
News in end use
Weekly Jobless Claims Increased in the Week Ending 17th October 2020
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 787,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, October 17th. A decrease of 55,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
Canada’s Inflation Rate up in September but Retail Sales Remain a Concern
According to a report from Statistics Canada, Canada’s annual rate of inflation accelerated in September. The annual rate of inflation to 0.5% in September, up from 0.1% in August and just ahead of analyst expectations of 0.4%, driven by transportation, recreation and higher prices for new housing.
Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Lows in Week Ending 22nd October 2020
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending 22nd October 2020. The PMMS shows that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.80% with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.81%.
FEA’s Weekly Orders Survey Participants Encouraged by Another Increase in Builder Confidence and Strong September Housing Starts and Permits
Dealers responding to FEA’s Weekly Orders Survey could not help but comment favorably on the Builder Confidence report for October, with the reading moving to a new record high of 85.
Existing-Home Sales Climb 9.4% in September to 6.5 Million
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is reporting that total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 9.4% from August to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million in September.
Canadian Home Prices Rise 1.1% in September
According to the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index (CHPI), which tracks data collected from public land registries to measure changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, Canadian home prices rose 1.1% in September 2020 when compared to August 2020. Making this the second strongest September on record.
Mortgage Applications Drop -0.6% in Week Ending 16th October 2020
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending October 16th, 2020, The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
The Share of Mortgage Loans in Forbearance Drops to 5.92% in Weekending October 11th, 2020
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey, the total number of loans now in forbearance has decreased by 40 basis points from 6.32% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week, to 5.92% in the week ending October 11th, 2020.
September 2020 Housing Starts & Permits Reported Higher
The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,415,000. This is 1.9% above the revised August estimate of 1,388,000 and is 11.1% above the September 2019 rate.