News in end use

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Applications Payment Index fell 3.8% to a reading of 161.8 in December, down from 168.2 in November.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 214,000 during the week ending January 20th, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week.

Mortgage loan application volume increased 3.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, MBA reported.

The Mortgage Bankers Association expects total commercial/multifamily borrowing and lending to rise to $576 billion in 2024, a 29% increase from 2023.

The US resident population grew by 1.63 million in 2023 to total population of 334.91 million, the Census Bureau and NAHB reported.

The Redfin Home Price Index climbed 0.4% month-over-month in December—the smallest increase since June 2023. Year-over-year, prices increased 6.6%.

Across the 48 states reporting construction sector jobs data (both residential and nonresidential construction), 32 states saw month-over-month gains, BLS and NAHB reported.

The total number of loans in forbearance as of December 31st, 2023, decreased 3 basis points to 0.23% of servicers’ portfolio volume, MBA reported.

StatCan’s New Housing Price Index (NHPI) was unchanged month-over-month in December, but prices were 0.9% lower year-over-year.

The Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University has released its quarterly Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA).