Wed, Jan 30 2019, 8:45 AM
Freddie Mac's Economic Research Group says in its January forecast that much of the volatility in the mortgage market since the end of the year has ar...
Fri, Jan 25 2019, 8:17 AM
The library of articles citing the alarming lack of new construction continues to grow. Freddie Mac, the Urban Institute (UI), and John McManus of Bui...
Wed, Jan 16 2019, 10:35 AM
After falling an aggregate of 12 points in November and December the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HM...
Tue, Dec 18 2018, 10:27 AM
Residential construction performed an abrupt and unexpected about face in October. Permits, housing starts, and completions all improved on a month-ov...
Fri, Dec 14 2018, 11:04 AM
Consistency can be boring, but in crazy times it can also be reassuring, even comforting. While they differ on the specifics, economists, at least tho...
Mon, Dec 3 2018, 12:22 PM
Construction spending was lower on a month-over-month basis in October, but an increase in public sector spending held the overall decline to a minimu...
Wed, Nov 28 2018, 11:53 AM
With both interest rates and home prices rising it is nearly impossible to find a housing forecast that doesn't include the word " cooling ." The Nove...
Tue, Nov 27 2018, 11:28 AM
The views about the direction of home prices diverged slightly in September, as those reported in the S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller indices slowed for th...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:25 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) upped their projection for economic growth slightly, to 3.1 percent this year , but say housi...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 10:50 AM
October was another mixed but largely mediocre month for residential construction . Permits were lower both on a monthly and an annual basis, while ho...
Thu, Nov 1 2018, 1:24 PM
Construction spending in September was largely unchanged from where it was in August. The U.S. Census Bureau said that private and public sector spend...
Tue, Oct 30 2018, 4:07 PM
Freddie Mac is forecasting that there will be GDP growth of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of this year, moderating from the strong 4.2 percent gro...
Tue, Oct 30 2018, 10:53 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index for August showed an annual appreciation rate that was lower than 6.0 percent for the fi...
Wed, Oct 17 2018, 10:05 AM
All three reports on residential construction activity in September were disappointing, but no more so than any of the other housing data that speaks ...
Mon, Oct 1 2018, 11:29 AM
The total value of construction put in place during August only ticked up 0.1 percent compared to July, but the small, steady increases each month hav...
Tue, Sep 25 2018, 10:39 AM
Both of the major home price indexes that were released this morning showed continued deceleration in the rate of appreciation, even though July is us...
Mon, Sep 24 2018, 12:18 PM
Freddie Mac's Economic and Housing Research Group said on Monday that the U.S. economy and job market are firing on nearly all cylinders , "but the ho...
Wed, Sep 19 2018, 10:04 AM
Both permits and starts were expected to pick up in August, at least holding on to their slight gains in July. Housing starts did deliver, posting a s...
Mon, Sep 17 2018, 3:11 PM
The robust growth in the economy in the second quarter may be the final peak of this expansion according to Fannie Mae's Economic Development Report f...
Fri, Sep 7 2018, 11:40 AM
Nearly all of America's home builders say they are facing significant shortages of skilled labor , both in the form of direct labor and as subcontract...
Tue, Aug 28 2018, 3:27 PM
Freddie Mac analysts see a two-pronged threat to housing sales for the remainder of the year, especially in the previously high-flying western part of...
Thu, Aug 16 2018, 10:15 AM
As analysts had predicted, both housing permits and starts recovered , albeit only slightly, in July after a poor showing the previous month. The U.S....
Thu, Aug 16 2018, 8:05 AM
It shouldn't be news to anyone that the homeownership rate of the Millennial generation continues to be anemic. While it has improved slightly since 2...
Thu, Aug 9 2018, 11:39 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says that responses to its recent Mortgage Builder Applications Survey indicates an increase of 3.6 percent in ...
Wed, Aug 1 2018, 12:17 PM
Construction spending fell unexpectedly in June. The U.S. Census said overall spending was down 1.1 percent from the May estimate to a seasonally adju...
Tue, Jul 31 2018, 10:13 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index put on a repeat performance for May. The index, which covers all nine U.S. census di...
Fri, Jul 20 2018, 11:43 AM
In another dive into data from the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction (SOC), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found that one third...
Fri, Jul 20 2018, 10:03 AM
Fannie Mae's economists have upgraded their second quarter economic forecast but say that may be about it for the year . In their July forecast, the c...
Wed, Jul 18 2018, 10:26 AM
All three measures of residential construction activity performed poorly in June , and the two most closely watched numbers, construction permits and ...
Mon, Jul 2 2018, 11:15 AM
Construction spending was less robust than April's 1.8 percent gain, but the May numbers came in about where the experts expected them. The Census Bur...
Tue, Jun 19 2018, 9:59 AM
Residential construction data was mixed for May as reported on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...
Fri, Jun 1 2018, 11:24 AM
April turned out to be a solid month for construction . The Census Bureau said that dollar value of new construction activity on residential, non-resi...
Fri, May 18 2018, 9:09 AM
In the face of continuing inventory shortages, declining consumer sentiment in favor of buying a home, and concern about the homeownership impacts of ...
Wed, May 16 2018, 10:52 AM
The leading construction indicators performed generally as analysts had predicted in April, stepping back from March's solid increases in both permits...
Tue, May 1 2018, 1:02 PM
The construction spending report for March was a bit of a jolt , especially given the reason for the unexpected decline . Some significant softness in...
Tue, Apr 17 2018, 12:27 PM
Fannie Mae's economists remain upbeat about economic growth in the medium term but said on Monday that they see increasing downside risks. In its Marc...
Tue, Apr 17 2018, 9:54 AM
Both housing permits and housing starts recovered in March from very disappointing performances in February. The New Residential Construction Report ,...
Mon, Apr 2 2018, 11:48 AM
Construction spending continued to have a hard time getting out of the 2018 starting blocks in February. Overall spending from both the public and pri...
Fri, Mar 16 2018, 9:56 AM
The two principal measures of residential construction activity had been expected to decline a bit in February after a strong performance to kick off ...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 9:16 AM
As various parts of the nation are hunkered down due to weather, just think of “2.4 million.” That is a lot of anything, especially when that is how m...
Thu, Mar 1 2018, 11:41 AM
Construction spending stalled in January. Publicly funded spending rose slightly from December but that was offset by reductions in most areas of priv...
Mon, Feb 26 2018, 9:22 AM
It was nice while it lasted, but the long run of historically low mortgage rates is clearly coming to an end. This month Freddie Mac's Outlook looks b...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:59 AM
Residential construction got off to a strong start in January, with sizable increases in both permits and housing starts and only a slight downturn in...
Thu, Feb 1 2018, 12:37 PM
Construction spending wound up the year with positive numbers for December and an increase in overall spending for the year . The U.S. Census Bureau t...
Wed, Jan 31 2018, 10:49 AM
Pending home sales finished off the year in a more upbeat tune. Although the December gain in sales, reported on Wednesday by the National Association...
Tue, Jan 23 2018, 3:49 PM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) focused on the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed late last year, in its January Economic Deve...
Thu, Jan 18 2018, 9:57 AM
Both housing starts and permits were expected to retreat a bit in December , following their strong performances in October and November. Permits did ...
Wed, Jan 3 2018, 11:13 AM
Construction spending in November came in slightly above analysts' consensus for an increase of 0.6 percent. Overall expenditures for construction put...
Tue, Dec 19 2017, 9:53 AM
After a surprisingly good report in October, with all three measures of residential construction activity rising significantly, analysts were expectin...
Mon, Dec 18 2017, 5:16 PM
Despite the disruptions from several hurricanes and an expected drag from trade in the fourth quarter, Fannie Mae says it expects 2017 to finish with ...