Eye On Housing
New single-family home sales declined in March as mortgage rates jumped to the highest levels since the start of the pandemic. Per Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.89 at the end of February and had climbed to 4.67 at the end of March. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated… Read More ›
In the past month, total mortgage activity, as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, underwent a series of weekly declines, decreasing in the latest week by 6.3 percent. The latest week’s survey is for the week ending April 1. The latest week’s activity consisted of a 3.4 percent decrease in purchasing and a 9.9 percent decrease… Read More ›
New single-family home sales posted a second monthly decline in February as housing demand was affected by a jump in mortgage rates. After starting at 3.1% in December, rates increased to 3.45% in January and 3.76% in February, per Freddie Mac. Additionally, builders continue to grapple with supply-chain issues, limiting inventory in a market for which new construction is an… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed 77.8% of new home sales in the fourth quarter of 2021—the largest share since Q1 2008. The share increased 2.9 percentage points over Q3 2021 (revised) and has risen each of the last four quarters, up 9.0 percentage points since Q4… Read More ›
New single-family home sales rose in November as housing demand was supported by low interest rates and strong consumer demand, despite the ongoing building materials challenges impacting the housing industry. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated sales of newly built, single-family homes in November at a 744,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace, a… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales were flat at a 745,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in October according to estimates from the joint release of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the flat reading was due to a significant downward revision for the September pace (revised from an 800,00 rate to… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed 75.7% of new home sales in the third quarter of 2021—the largest share since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. The share increased 1.7 percentage points over Q2 2021 (revised) and has risen each of… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased 14% to an 800,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in September according to estimates from the joint release of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. On a year-over-year basis, the September estimate was 18% lower than a year ago, when an unsustainable rebound took hold in… Read More ›
After a prior cooling trend for the volume of new home sales, sales contracts increased 1.5% in August according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The August seasonally adjusted annual rate (740,000) was 24% lower than a year ago, when an unsustainable rebound took hold in the market. Higher prices have also affected housing affordability, with new home… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed 76.3% of new home sales in the second quarter of 2021—the largest share since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. The share of sales backed by conventional loans in Q2 2021 increased 5.1 percentage points (quarter-over-quarter) from… Read More ›