Inflation edged up to a six-month high in January and showed little progress from a year ago. The persistent inflation rate indicates the last mile to the Fed’s 2% target continues to be challenging and is consistent with the Fed’s cautious stance amid solid economic…
Lending standards for residential mortgages were essentially unchanged across most categories, while overall demand for most residential mortgages was weaker according to the Federal Reserve Board’s January 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). Examining lending conditions for commercial real estate (CRE) loans, construction & development loans…
Total outstanding U.S. consumer credit stood at $5.15 trillion for the fourth quarter of 2024, increasing at an annualized rate of 4.22% (seasonally adjusted), according to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 Consumer Credit Report. This is an uptick from the third quarter of 2024’s rate of…
U.S. job growth slowed in January amid Southern California wildfires and severe winter weather across much of the country. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.0%. This month’s data indicates that the labor market is slowing at the start of 2025 but remains healthy….
The most significant challenge builders faced in 2024 was high interest rates, as reported by 91% of builders in the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey. A smaller, albeit still significant share of 78% expect interest rates to remain a problem in 2025. The next…
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey, increased by 3.1% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, primarily driven by purchasing activity. Compared to January last year, the index is higher by 3.4%….
The homeownership rate for those under the age of 35 dropped to 36.3% in the last quarter of 2024, reaching the lowest level since the third quarter of 2019, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). Amidst elevated mortgage interest rates and tight housing…
