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 ...
Fri, Dec 1 2017, 11:33 AM
Construction expenditures so far this year continue to run ahead of what was spent in 2016, with private construction accounting for most of the incre...
Tue, Nov 21 2017, 9:40 AM
Freddie Mac's Economic and Strategic Research Team gave its forecast for housing in 2018 (which, as discussed below, it is now hedging a bit) in its O...
Fri, Nov 17 2017, 5:29 PM
Housing activity in the third quarter of 2017 is described as "continuing its rough patch" in Fannie Mae's latest edition of Economic Developments . T...
Fri, Nov 17 2017, 9:59 AM
It has been a while since all three measures covered in the residential construction report were strongly positive. In fact, certain metrics bordered ...
Mon, Nov 6 2017, 11:20 AM
The last of a series of three working papers on the hurdles hampering homeownership was introduced on Friday in conjunction with the 2017 Realtors® Co...
Wed, Oct 18 2017, 9:58 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau is mum on causation, but results from the southern region would indicate that the August and September hurricanes probably drov...
Wed, Oct 18 2017, 9:51 AM
Fannie Mae has lowered its third quarter projections for GDP growth by 0.2 percent to an annualized 2.4 percent based on its assessment of the overall...
Tue, Oct 17 2017, 10:26 AM
It has been a rather dismal spring and summer for construction, one in which permitting has declined in three out of the last four months. Going more ...
Mon, Oct 2 2017, 1:35 PM
Construction spending in August came in a little higher than expected, posting the first increase in three months. Unlike housing starts and completio...
Tue, Sep 26 2017, 10:43 AM
New home sales were down again in August, following a 9.4 percent plunge in July. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Devel...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 10:03 AM
Residential construction outcomes in August were mixed, with permitting enjoying a strong comeback after more than a 4 percent downturn in July, but h...
Fri, Sep 1 2017, 12:03 PM
Total spending on construction slipped nationwide in July, down 0.6 percent from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.21 trillion, but it r...
Thu, Aug 31 2017, 10:21 AM
Last month's resurgence in pending home sales didn't last long . Sales ended a three-month fad in June with a 1.5 percent increase in the Pending Home...
Tue, Aug 29 2017, 10:32 AM
Although home prices were generally expected to begin cooling off by the middle of 2017, the most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index suggests the st...
Wed, Aug 16 2017, 9:54 AM
After posting unexpectedly high numbers in June, all three residential construction indicators lost ground in July , and one, housing starts, is now r...
Mon, Aug 14 2017, 10:45 AM
About a month ago, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) seized on the May Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTs) report as an indi...
Thu, Aug 10 2017, 11:28 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) expects there will be a sharp downturn reported in July sales of newly constructed homes. While its Builder App...
Tue, Aug 1 2017, 12:11 PM
Construction spending, both public and private, dropped 1.3 percent in June . Spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.21 trillion comp...
Fri, Jul 28 2017, 9:29 AM
Freddie Mac's Outlook this month looks at what it calls "the spoiler," the lean inventory of newly constructed homes for sale. While the situation isn...
Wed, Jul 19 2017, 9:48 AM
Housing permits and starts both reversed their respective two-month slides in June, and both did so convincingly , far outpacing analysts' expectation...
Mon, Jul 17 2017, 1:01 PM
Fannie Mae said it is sticking with its forecast for 2.0 percent economic growth in 2017, a projection it first made in February. The estimate of 2.1 ...
Tue, Jul 11 2017, 3:40 PM
The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for May showed fewer job openings than analysts had expected, 5....
Mon, Jul 3 2017, 10:51 AM
Construction spending was essentially flat in May when compared to April. The U.S. Census Bureau said on Monday that there were seasonally adjusted an...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 10:27 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for April set a record high , on a non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) basis for the fifth consecut...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 10:08 AM
On November 30, 2016 Freddie Mac's economists issued their monthly Outlook which, in light of the sudden surge in interest rates earlier that month, w...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 10:58 AM
In some areas, they are called "scrape-offs," but the usual term is tear-down ; demolishing an existing home to build a new one in its place. Tear-dow...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 10:09 AM
Both permits for construction of privately-owned housing units and beginning construction in May were well below expectations, the second consecutive ...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:17 AM
What are we going to be talking about this summer? One topic is the economy, and the thought that rising short-term rates are a signal that the econom...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:54 AM
The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University has released its latest report on the State of the Nation's Housing . The report, is...
Fri, Jun 9 2017, 12:37 PM
Five barriers to homeownership are identified in a new study released on Friday by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The white paper, title...
Thu, Jun 1 2017, 10:55 AM
The total amount of construction put in place nationally fell in April, but continues at a pace higher than at the same point in 2016. The U.S. Census...
Thu, May 25 2017, 11:09 AM
Rather than taking a step back this year, home sales now seem ready to best their 2016 numbers. Freddie Mac's economists admit that, up until this mon...
Tue, May 16 2017, 9:08 AM
All three residential construction measures for April were lower than those in March. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Develo...
Mon, May 1 2017, 1:19 PM
Construction spending dipped slightly in March, although privately funded spending held its ground and residential construction activity was at a high...
Tue, Apr 18 2017, 10:14 AM
Once again, the pace of both residential construction permits and housing starts reversed direction, repeating, in March, the up and down pattern that...
Tue, Apr 18 2017, 5:05 PM
The housing inventory, or lack of it, dominates Freddie Mac's Outlook for April. The company's Economic and Housing Research team says the supply of f...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 1:42 PM
Spending on residential buildings fared better than overall construction spending in February. The U.S. Census Bureau said on Monday that expenditures...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 10:10 AM
Housing permits were down in February, wiping out the gains posted in January, while housing starts also reversed course , posting the year's first ga...
Wed, Mar 1 2017, 11:03 AM
Construction spending had been expected to recover from the 0.2 percent loss it suffered in December. Analysts polled by Econoday were looking for an ...
Thu, Feb 16 2017, 9:53 AM
Results from this morning's residential construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were mixed...
Wed, Feb 1 2017, 1:15 PM
Publicly funded expenditures continued to drag on overall construction spending numbers in December, offsetting a small uptick in private spending. Da...
