Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending June 9th, total mortgage activity increased 7.2% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate fell five basis points to 6.77%. The FRM rate has risen 20 basis points over…
Consumer prices in May saw the smallest year-over-year gain since March 2021, mainly driven by lower energy prices. This marked the eleventh consecutive month of deceleration. While this measure aligned with expectations, core inflation remained persistent due to the increase in rent prices. The shelter…
The first quarter of 2023 release of the Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States shows for a third consecutive quarter the value of households’ real estate assets contracted. The combination of economic uncertainty and declining home prices has played a role over the past…
Consumer credit outstanding grew at a seasonal adjusted annual rate of 5.7% in April 2023 per the Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit report, as revolving and nonrevolving debt grew at 13.1% and 3.2%, respectively (SAAR). Total consumer credit outstanding stands at $4.8 trillion (not seasonally…
Obtaining lots to build on remains a challenge for many of NAHB’s builders, although the shortages are not quite as widespread as they were in 2021. Responding to special questions on the May 2023 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), 42 percent of…
Solid nominal wage gains (unadjusted for inflation) combined with lower mortgage rates and home prices helped to boost housing affordability in the first quarter of 2023, but ongoing building material supply chain issues and expected cooling of wage growth signal ongoing concerns for affordability conditions…
The latest labor force statistics from the 2021 American Community Survey show that the construction industry continues to struggle to attract younger workers. While workers under the age of 25 comprised 13.6% of the US labor force, their share in the construction industry reached only…
