Eye On Housing
During the third quarter of 2023, availability of loans for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) continued to tighten, according to both NAHB’s survey on AD&C Financing and the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers. Each of the surveys produces a net easing index that is positive when credit is easing and negative when credit is tightening. In… Read More ›
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending November 3rd, total mortgage activity increased 2.5% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate fell 25 basis points to 7.61%. The FRM rate has decreased by 6 basis points over the past month but has hovered between 7.5% and 8.0% for six consecutive weeks…. Read More ›
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee held the federal funds rate at a top target rate of 5.5% at the conclusion of its November meeting. While noting that the Fed was “strongly” committed to reducing inflation to its target rate, this marked the second meeting in a row of no increase as the central bank examines incoming data. The Fed’s… Read More ›
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending October 6th, total mortgage activity increased 0.6% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose 14 basis points to 7.67%. The FRM rate has increased 40 basis points over the past month to its highest level since 2000. The Market Composite Index, a measure… Read More ›
According to the Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit report, total consumer credit outstanding totaled $4.97 trillion (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in August, a decrease of $15.6 billion over the month but $188.8 billion—or 3.9%–higher than August 2022. The monthly decline resulted from a 0.8% drop in nonrevolving credit outstanding that was partially offset by a 1.2% increase in revolving credit…. Read More ›
Consumer confidence saw another decline in September as consumers expressed growing concerns about the future, primarily driven by persistent inflation and expectations of higher interest rates lasting for an extended period. The Consumer Confidence Index, reported by the Conference Board, fell 5.7 points from 108.7 to 103.0 in September, the lowest level since May 2023. The Present Situation Index rose… Read More ›
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee held the federal funds rate at a top target rate of 5.5% at the conclusion of its September meeting. The Fed will also continue to reduce its balance sheet holdings of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities as part of quantitative tightening. These actions are intended to slow the economy and bring inflation back to 2%…. Read More ›
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending September 8th, total mortgage activity decreased 0.8% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose six basis points to 7.27%. The FRM rate has remained above 7% since the start of August. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell… Read More ›
Interest rates on loans for Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) continued to climb in the second quarter of 2023, according to NAHB’s quarterly Survey on AD&C Financing. Quarter-over-quarter, the contract interest rate increased on all four categories of loans tracked in the AD&C Survey: from 8.50% to 8.62% on loans for land acquisition, from 8.19% to 8.70% on loans for… Read More ›
Consumer credit outstanding growth slowed to 4.0% in the second quarter 2023 (SAAR) according to the Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit report, as revolving and nonrevolving debt grew at 7.1% and 3.0%, respectively. Revolving credit growth has decelerated as of late, a result of both cooling inflation and increasingly tight lending standards. Total consumer credit outstanding stands at $5.0 trillion… Read More ›