Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Q1 2021 HBGI: Home Building and Commuting
In addition to its analysis on areas with the longest commuting times, the Q1 2021 Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) features two other Commute-to-Work data series: counties with top shares of bicycle commuters (i.e., greater than or equal to 0.5 percent) and counties with top shares1 of work-from-home workers (greater than or equal to 6.6 percent). Single-family and multifamily housing… Read More ›
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Purchase Mortgages Show Year-over-Year Decline
After three straight weeks of declines, mortgage activity in the latest week rebounded, as shown in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Application Surveys, increasing over 4 percent last week. Both purchase and refinance applications were up, including a 5.5 percent gain in refinances. The jump in refinances was the result of the 30-year fixed rate falling for the third… Read More ›
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Real Estate Market Values Surge in the First Quarter
The latest results from the Federal Reserve’s Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States, i.e., the “Flow of Funds”, show that, in the first quarter of 2021, the aggregate market value of all owner-occupied real estate in the United States registered the largest numerical quarterly increase in the last 20 years’ worth of data. From $32.84 trillion in the fourth… Read More ›
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HBGI Shows Suburban Shift for Multifamily Construction
The first quarter 2021 Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) showed that single-family home building continued to shift to low-density and low-cost markets, a trend stemming largely from the COVID-19 pandemic and first reported in the second quarter of 2020. However, this suburban shift has been even more pronounced in the multifamily sector, which is experiencing growth in 2021 after a… Read More ›
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Home Building At Fastest Pace in Areas With Shortest Commute Times
Home building across the nation expanded the fastest in places with the shortest commute times, according to the quarterly National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). The HBGI also shows the suburban shift in new home construction to low density, low cost markets stemming largely from the COVID-19 pandemic and first reported in the second quarter… Read More ›
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Mortgage Rates Taper Over the Prior Month, Boosting Refinancing
Over the last month, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) tracked 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate dipped below the elevated levels shown in April, mirroring a similar decline in Treasury yields. For the week ending May 14, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.15%. The MBA’s Market Composite Index, reflective of activity in refinancing and purchase mortgages, changed course compared to… Read More ›
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Revolving Credit Rises in the First Quarter
In the first quarter of 2021, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate by 5.1%, with revolving debt1 increasing by 2.4% and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 5.9%. Consumer credit totaled $4.2 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, with $980 billion comprised of revolving debt and $3.3 trillion in nonrevolving debt. This outstanding level marks a total increase of $54 billion… Read More ›
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Latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey Indicates Easing Credit Standards
The latest results from the Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) present standards on bank lending practices as they occurred in the first quarter of 2021. The three major categories of lending covered by the survey are Commercial and Industrial (C&I) loans, Commercial Real Estate (CRE) loans, and Residential Real Estate (RRE) loans. The survey distinguishes the… Read More ›
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Spring Home-Buying Fervor in Latest MBA Survey
Over the last month, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) tracked 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate continued to show elevated levels. For the week ending April 16, the average rate was 3.2%. For the same period, the MBA’s Market Composite Index (seasonally adjusted) underwent a series of declines, significantly tapering from its levels in March. It is only in the latest week’s… Read More ›
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4Q20 Home Building Geography Index: Diversity Measures
The topic of diversity, and its relationship to homeownership and home building, carries significant implications for policy making, social justice, and equity. In addition to the usual regional classification, NAHB’s Q4 2020 Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) provides a segmentation of the housing market based on county-level measurements of racial and ethnic heterogeneity. For this purpose, we use ESRI’s1 2018… Read More ›