The Conference Board, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank founded in 1916, released today (3-18-22) the Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. in March 2022. According to the report, the LEI for the U.S. increased by 0.3% in March to 119.8 (2016=100), following a 0.6% increase in February.
Wood Markets News
Mortgage Rates Continued to Climb in Week Ending April 21, 2022, Marking the 7th Consecutive Weekly Increase
Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending April 21, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.11% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.00%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.97%.
Weekly Jobless Claims Move Lower in the Week Ending April 16, 2022
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 184,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 16, 2022. This is a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 177,250.
Existing Home Sales Drop for Second Consecutive Month in March 2022
The National Association of Realtors® reported on Wednesday that total existing home sales dropped -2.7% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted rate at 5.77 million homes. This marks the second consecutive month of declines.
Mortgage Applications Decline for Sixth Consecutive Week in the Week Ending April 15, 2022
According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the week ending April 15, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) declined -5.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Canadian Consumer Price Index Up 1.4% Month-Over-Month and 6.7% Year-Over-Year in March 2022
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (4-20-22) that Canadian consumer prices increased 6.7% year-over-year in March 2022, one percentage point higher than the gain in February (+5.7%). This was the largest increase since January 1991 (+6.9%).
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group Downgrades Its Forecast for Real GDP Growth for 2022 and 2023
Expectations of aggressive monetary policy tightening through 2023 by the Federal Reserve are likely to further soften economic output already being weighed down by decades-high inflation and the ongoing effects stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Rent Prices Increase in February, Hitting a New Record High for the 11th Consecutive Month
In February, U.S. rent prices marked their eleventh consecutive month of double-digit gains, rising 13.1% year-over-year, to hit another new record as the highest in the history of the index. Warmer areas of the country again posted the largest price hikes.
March Single-Family Housing Starts, Permits, and Completions All Fall Below February Levels
Privately‐owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,793,000. This is 0.3% above the revised February estimate of 1,788,000 and is 3.9% above the March 2021 rate of 1,725,000. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 1,200,000. This is -1.7% below the revised February figure of 1,221,000.
Canadian Housing Starts Edge Lower in March
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported today (4-19-22) that the trend in housing starts in Canada was 252,497 units in March, down from 253,296 units February. The standalone monthly SAAR of total housing starts for all areas in Canada in March was 246,243 units, a decrease of -2% from February.