For the four-week period ending on February 5, 2021, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Weekly Application Surveys showed sustained elevated activity, unseen through most of 2020, except at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the MBA’s tracked 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovered a few basis points above 2.9%, reaching 2.96% in the latest week. While Purchasing maintained higher levels… Read More ›
Job openings in construction declined in December as hiring slowed, albeit with distinctions between residential and nonresidential construction. As detailed in the January employment report, there were 2,500 lost total construction sector jobs for the start of the year. Nonetheless, for home building and remodeling, sector employment is 27,600 positions higher than a year prior. Overall, hiring in the construction… Read More ›
Record-low mortgage rates offset record-high home prices to keep housing affordability steady in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) released today. Though affordability rates held firm, regulatory and supply-side challenges threaten to aggravate affordability problems in the year ahead.
Total payroll employment rose by 49,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3% for the month. The labor market continues its slow recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In January, residential construction employment remined unchanged virtually (-600), after increasing for eight straight months. Meanwhile, non-residential construction lost 1,900 positions, after four consecutive months of gain. Currently, job gains in residential construction… Read More ›
