News in end use

New residential single-family home sales were at a SAAR of 664,000 in December, 8.0% above November and 4.4% above December 2022.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.69%, up from last week when it averaged 6.60%, Freddie Mac reported.

Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.3% in Q4, the BEA said in its “advance estimate. That follows a reported real GDP increase of 4.9% in Q3.

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.