Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Declining Mortgage Rates As A Signal Of Future Economic Performance
Contract rates on mortgages used to purchase newly built homes fell by 9 basis points over the month of July 2017. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, contract rates settled at 3.94 percent in July. In June, contract rates were 4.03 percent. After rising to 4.18 percent in February 2017, an increase of 64 basis points from the October… Read More ›
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AD&C Financing Conditions Ease, But At A Slower Pace
Builders and developers responding to NAHB’s AD&C Financing Survey continue to report easing credit conditions for acquisitions, development, and single-family construction loans. In the second quarter of 2017, the overall net tightening index based on the AD&C survey was -10.7, indicating net easing. All major categories of AD&C financing also recorded net easing, but land acquisition and single-family construction loans… Read More ›
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Strong Q2 GDP Growth Confirmed
The pace of growth in the nation’s economy over the second quarter of 2017 was stronger than originally believed. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis within the U.S. Department of Commerce, real gross domestic product (GDP) is now estimated to have increased by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter. The original or “advance”… Read More ›
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New Home Sales Falter After Encouraging Spring
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales of new single-family homes fell 9.4 percent over the month of July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000. Despite the declines, sales over the first seven months of 2017 are 9.2 percent above their level over the same period in 2016. The… Read More ›
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LMI Indicates Continued Improvement Across the Country
According to the NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), 89 percent, 299 metropolitan statistical areas, recorded growth in their LMI Score over the second quarter of 2017. The index uses single-family housing permits, employment, and home prices to measure proximity to a normal economic and housing market. The index is calculated for 337 local markets, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), as… Read More ›
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Senior Loan Officer Survey As A Barometer of the Economy
Lending standards on business loans to large and medium-sized firms eased on net over the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey. Historical evidence has shown that lending standards on business loans to these establishments is correlated with both the growth in the stock of business loans held by banks and with… Read More ›
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Mortgage Rates on New Home Purchases Tick Up
Information provided by the Federal Housing Financing Agency indicates that mortgage rates on purchases of newly built homes ticked up by 3 basis points over June to 4.03 percent. However, at this level, rates remain below the 4.18 peak level recorded in February. Meanwhile, a more commonly used rate reported by Freddie Mac indicates that mortgage rates fell in June. Despite… Read More ›
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Economy Grew At a Faster Pace in Q2
In the second quarter of 2017, the nation’s economy grew at a faster pace than in the first quarter. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017. In the first quarter, GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.2 percent. The first… Read More ›
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FOMC Balance Sheet Normalization Coming “Relatively Soon”
In a statement following its two-day meeting covering July 25 and 26, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC or the Committee) decided to “maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1 to 1.25 percent”. All FOMC members voted in favor of this decision. In its statement, the FOMC maintains that, at this level, “the stance of monetary policy remains… Read More ›
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New Home Sales Expand Moderately
Sales of new single-family homes rose 0.8 percent in June 2017 to 610,000 as reported jointly by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The June increase reflected a downward revision to the estimate of new home sales in May. If the May sales number remained at its initially reported level of 610,000, then sales would… Read More ›