The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 1,006,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday August 22nd. A decrease of 98,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
News in end use
Mortgage Rates Drop Below 3% in Week Ending August 27th, 2020
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending August 27th, 2020. The PMMS shows that 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.91% with an average 0.8 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.99%.
Pending Homes Sales Up 5.9% in July
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported that their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) increased 5.9% in July to a reading of 122.1.
New Single-Family and Multifamily Construction Used $94.93 Billion in Building Material Products in 2019
In 2019 new single-family and multifamily construction used approximately $94.93 billion in building material products.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Announces Delay in Implementing Adverse Market Refinance Fee
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) abruptly changed courses on Tuesday (8/25), announcing that they were postponing the beginning of their adverse market refinance fee set to begin on September 1st to December 1st.
Mortgage Applications Decline in Week Ending 21st August, 2020
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, for the week ending 21st August 2020, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased -6.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Work Stoppage at Port of Montreal Ends with Talks Scheduled to Resume
According to the Canadian Press, the 12-day work stoppage at the Port of Montreal ended on Friday August 21st, with a truce being declared between the longshore workers and the Port Authority.
An In-depth View of the July Construction Industry Sector Job Data
The National Association of Home Builders has conducted a deeper dive into the Bureau of Labor Statistics nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment for the month of July.
The International Code Council® Has Developed a List of Suggested Remote Virtual Inspection Practices
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way builders and contractors are performing their jobsite activities. The same holds true for how cities, counties and states are conducting jobsite inspections.
Single New Family Home Sales Soar in July
The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are reporting that according to estimates sales of new single-family houses in July 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 901,000.