RSS Eye On Housing

  • Q2 2020 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey
    The Federal Reserve’s latest release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey shows banks’ lending practices and households and businesses’ demand for various classes of loans as of the second quarter of 2020. As evidenced in the survey, in the wake of the COVID-19-wrought pandemic, widespread economic hardship caused many banks to tighten their standards […]
  • Again, Credit for Builders Tightens While Rates Decline
    Builders and developers responding to NAHB’s survey on financing for Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C) indicated that credit continued to become tighter in the second quarter of 2020.  The net tightening index derived from the survey came in at 12.0, after reaching an 8 1/2-year high of 22.7 in the first quarter. The index is […]
  • Initial Jobless Claims Fall Below 1 Million for the First Time Since Mid-March
    Weekly initial jobless claims decreased below 1 million in the week ending August 8. Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims by one week, has declined for two weeks in a row. It is encouraging to see decreases in both jobless claims and continuing claims. More people are returning to work and the labor market […]
  • Amid Record Low Rates, Refinancing Flourishes
    Over the last two weeks, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s tracked 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average rate fell by 14 basis points to 3.06%, a new record low in the series. At the same time, the results from its Weekly Application Survey show both weekly and year-over-year percentage increases in purchasing and refinancing activities. On a seasonally […]
  • Gain for the “Core” CPI in July
    In July, overall inflation remained unchanged from the previous month, while core inflation accelerated. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.6% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in June. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, “core” CPI rose by 0.6% […]
  • Softwood Lumber Costs Up Nearly 30% Over Three Months, Push Building Materials Prices Higher in July
    Prices paid for goods used in residential construction continued their upward trend in July, increasing 1.8% (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the third consecutive monthly increase since the index declined three months straight by a total 5.4%. The index has decreased […]
  • Construction Hiring Continued in June
    After an accelerated pace of layoffs in March and April, construction sector hiring roared back in May and continued at somewhat reduced pace in June, per data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). In May, the hiring rate increased to 9.7%, after a subdued 3.7% rate in April. This was the […]
  • Nonrevolving Debt Fuels June Consumer Credit
    The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through June 2020. In June, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.6% from the previous month, with revolving debt1 decreasing by 2.8% and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 4.3 percent. Consumer credit totaled […]
  • Job Market Gains Continue
    Surpassing recent dampened expectations, total payroll employment rose by 1.8 million and the unemployment rate declined to 10.2% in July. The U.S. labor market continues to recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Residential construction employment rose by 24,000 in July to 2.8 million. Total construction industry (both residential and nonresidential) employment rebounded to nearly 7.2 million […]
  • Initial and Continuing Claims Decline
    Weekly initial jobless claims decreased in the week ending August 1 after two weeks of increases. Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims by one week, dropped by 844,000 in the week ending July 25. Although jobless claims remain at historically high levels, the decreases in initial jobless claims and continuing claims indicate that labor […]
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