Builder confidence rose for the fourth straight month and residential construction stats may now be trying to catch up. Both construction permits and housing starts rose in February compared to both January and February 2023 levels. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development  (HUD) said new residential construction began on a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.521 million units last month. This is 10.7 percent higher than the 1.374 million units reported in January and 5.9 percent more than the level a year earlier. Single-family starts rose 11.6 percent for the month to a rate of 1.129 million units and were up 35.2 percent year-over-year while multifamily starts increased by 8.5 percent. They retreated however by 35.9 percent on an annual basis. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, construction started on 108,100 units during the month, 79,200 of which were single-family houses. The January numbers were 97,400 and 69,700 respectively. Permitting also increased, although not as dramatically. Authorizations were at a seasonally adjusted level of 1.518 million, 1.9 percent higher than the 1.489 million estimate the previous month. The year-over-year change was +2.4 percent. Single-family permits were up 1.0 percent to 1.031 million, 29.5 percent higher than a year earlier. Multifamily permits increased 2.4 percent but lagged the prior February by 32.8 percent. Permits issued during the month totaled 118,300, up from 114,800. Single-family permits increased from 75,900 to 79,300.

March 19, 2024 Download our Mobile App: Download our Mobile App: 30 Yr. Fixed 6.15% -0.02%   6.01% 7.13% 15 Yr. Fixed 5.72% -0.03%   5.55% 6.5% 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.33% -0.02%   6.1% 7.45% Compare Mortgage Rates from Local Lenders for Mar 19, 2024 What Will The Fed Do To Mortgage Rates on Wednesday? Tue, Mar 19, 2024 4:11PM Mortgage rates were roughly unchanged on Tuesday, capping a short but meaningful losing streak over the past 6 business days. During that time, the average 30yr fixed rate move back into the low 7s and came close enough to the 2024 ceiling from 3 weeks ago. Impending events are set to either reinforce the ceiling or see it broken.  The events in question are the 3 components of Wednesday's "Fed day."  It used to be that a Fed announcement was simply a document that specified whether the Fed was hiking/cutting rates, along with some prose talking about the outlook for rates and the ... (read more) Mortgage News Daily Rate Change Points 30 Yr. Fixed 6.15% -0.02 0.00 15 Yr. Fixed 5.72% -0.03 0.00 30 Yr. FHA 5.75% -0.05 0.00 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.33% -0.02 0.00 7/6 SOFR ARM 5.56% -0.03 0.00 30 Yr. VA 5.77% -0.04 0.00 Updates Daily - Last Update: 2/6 Freddie Mac Rate Change Points 30 Yr. Fixed 6.11% +0.01 0.00 15 Yr. Fixed 5.50% +0.01 0.00 Updates Weekly - Last Update: 2/5 Mortgage Bankers Assoc. 30 Yr. Fixed 6.24% +0.08 0.55 15 Yr. Fixed 5.64% +0.09 0.61 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.34% -0.05 0.40 Updates Weekly - Last Update: 1/28 UMBS 30YR 5.0 100.05 +0.01   95.71 100.50 UMBS 30YR 5.5 101.49 +0.04   98.11 101.64 10 YR Treasury 4.213 +0.033   3.932 4.608 Ceiling Survives But Wednesday is The Test Tue, Mar 19, 2024 4:26PM Ceiling Survives But Wednesday is The Test Any trading day without a big ticket economic report or Fed announcement faces an uphill battle on the road to relevance. Today was no exception with only Housing Starts on the data calendar and a 20yr bond auction rounding out the scheduled events.  The auction was rel... (read more) MBS Price Change UMBS 4.5 98.06 +0.03 UMBS 5.0 100.05 +0.01 UMBS 5.5 101.49 +0.04 GNMA 4.5 97.84 +0.10 GNMA 5.0 100.18 +0.11 GNMA 5.5 101.22 -0.02 Pricing as of: 2/7 4:31AM EST US Treasury Yield Change 2 YR Treasury 3.496 +0.044 5 YR Treasury 3.753 +0.036 7 YR Treasury 3.965 +0.026 10 YR Treasury 4.213 +0.033 30 YR Treasury 4.851 +0.006 Pricing as of: 2/7 4:31AM EST Other News Builder Confidence and Construction Activity Both Go Up Tue, Mar 19, 2024 12:51PM Builder confidence rose for the fourth straight month and residential construction stats may now be trying to catch up. Both construction permits and housing starts rose in February compared to both January and February 2023 levels. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development  (HUD) said new residential construction began... (read more) POS, TPO, Automation, DPA Tools; HECM, FHA, USDA News; Housing Starts and Permits Tue, Mar 19, 2024 10:37AM One never knows what one will learn at a mortgage event, like yesterday learning from Lender Toolkit’s Alex K. that Collinsville, Illinois has the largest catsup bottle in the world. (The Collinsville area produces 60 percent of the world’s horseradish root, but I’ll save that tale for another time.) Later today I’ll be leaving Las Vegas, flying from Las Veg... (read more) Latest Video Howard Hughes CEO: The amount of incentives a homebuilder needs to offer ri... Fed will have to dent optimism over rate cut expectations, says Northwester... Expect three rate cuts, says former PIMCO chief economist Expect Fed to be more measured with rate cuts: Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Son... Around the Web Marketwatch Fed is 'so far from equilibrium' as markets await rate guidance, BlackRock's Rick Rieder says Marketwatch Negative-interest-rate era is over. Was it the 'dumbest idea' in economic history? CNBC Home prices rose 2.4 times faster than inflation since 1960s, study finds. What that means for homebuyers CNBC Fed could cut rates fewer times than expected as economy keeps growing, according to CNBC survey CNBC The best time to sell your home in 2023, listings in this period sold for $7,700 more, research finds Calculated Risk Blog Housing Starts Increased to 1.521 million Annual Rate in February CNBC Homebuilder sentiment turns positive for the first time since July CNBC Treasury yields dip as Fed meeting is due to kick off CFPB Submission of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to the Appraisal Subcommittee Regarding Oversight of the Appraisal Foundation Calculated Risk Blog Single Family Starts Up 35% Year-over-year in February; Multi-Family Starts Down Sharply Calculated Risk Blog LA Port Traffic Increased Sharply Year-over-year in February Calculated Risk Blog California February Existing Home Sales increase 1.3% YoY, Prices up 9.7% YoY Fannie Mae Higher Mortgage Rate Forecast Leads to Decline in 2024 Home Sales Expectations

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