Eye On Housing
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 ›
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 ›
The Federal Reserve’s latest release of the Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States shows the flows into and out of households and non-profit organizations as of the third quarter of 2020. As of the third quarter of 2020, the market value of all real estate assets held by households stood at $31.2 trillion. On the other side of the… Read More ›
Multifamily construction shifted into less dense markets during the third quarter of 2020, per the latest NAHB Homebuilding Geography Index (HBGI). This change is similar to the evolving geography for single-family home building, as housing demand moved to lower cost, more affordable markets. The multifamily data confirm that these shifts in demand are not just occurring for single-family home building… Read More ›
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Weekly Application Survey shows that, for the week ending November 27, 2020, mortgage application activity decreased by 0.6% from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as indicated by its Market Composite Index. One of its two constituent indexes, the Purchasing Index, increased by 9% from the previous week while the other, the… Read More ›
For the week ending October 9, 2020, the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Application Survey showed a 0.7% drop in overall application activity from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as shown in its Market Composite Index. The constituent indices for Purchase and Refinance decreased by 1.6% and 0.3%, respectively, for the week. Despite the weekly declines, year-over-year gains… Read More ›
For the week ending September 18, 2020, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Application Survey showed a jump in application activity, both in purchasing and refinancing, as its Market Composite Index increased 6.8% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis. Most notably, the Purchasing Activity reached its highest level since January 2009, when it was only 5.3% higher…. Read More ›
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate has been known to follow, albeit loosely, the 10-year Treasury yield. The latter is a widely tracked economic indicator and serves not only as a sign for the pulse of the U.S. economy, but also as a premium for pricing myriad financial instruments, upon which characteristics specific to the financial instrument are added. As 10-year… Read More ›
As the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate reached a new historic low of 3.3%, sliding down by 8 basis points from the previous week, its benchmark Market Composite Index increased by 8% from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Purchase applications increased to the highest level in over 11 years and for the ninth consecutive week…. Read More ›
In the last analysis of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), single-family construction was shown to be expanding faster in regions of lower population density. The COVID-19-induced public health crisis has added momentum to this trend. Moreover, multifamily residential construction has been on a similar trajectory of growth that intensified in 2019, regardless of the virus impact. Indeed, over the… Read More ›