Eye On Housing
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Consumer prices faced by urban consumers nationwide, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index – Urban Consumer (CPI), rose by 1.6 percent over the past year on a not seasonally adjusted dating back to June 2016. However, over the past month, consumer prices were unchanged (seasonally adjusted basis). The Shelter Price Index was a key contributor… Read More ›
Information provided by the Federal Housing Financing Agency’s Mortgage Interest Rate Survey indicates that mortgage rates on purchases of newly constructed homes fell over the month of May to 4.00 percent, from 4.02 percent in April. Since rising by 64 basis points between October 2016 and February 2017, rates have now slipped 18 basis points over 3 consecutive months. A… Read More ›
Yesterday, NAHB hosted its bi-annual Construction Forecast Webinar (CFW). The CFW featured three industry experts. NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe was joined by Maury Harris, Chief US Economist at UBS, and NAHB Senior Economist Robert Denk to present views on the outlook for the US economy and the housing market more specifically. Here are the major points from the presentation:… Read More ›