News in end use

As of March 31, the total number of loans in forbearance declined 2 basis points from 0.38% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior month to 0.36%, MBA reported.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index declined 0.7% to 100.5 in March, after a revised decline of 0.2% (originally 0.3%) in February.

US home sellers gave concessions to buyers in 44.4% of home-sale transactions in Q1, Redfin reported.

The Fannie Mae Home Price Index increased 5.2% year-over-year in Q1, largely unchanged from the previous quarter’s 5.3% growth.

30 states added construction jobs in March compared to February, the BLS and NAHB reported. Nationally, the construction industry added a net 13,000 jobs.

Mortgage applications for new-home purchases increased 14.0% in March, MBA reported. Year-over-year, mortgage applications increased 5.5%.

Housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,324,000, 11.4% below the revised February estimate of 1,494,000.

The typical US home that went under contract in March spent 47 days on the market, the longest for any March since 2019, Redfin reported.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.83%, up from last week when it week when it averaged 6.62%, Freddie Mac reported.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 215,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised total.