Thu, Oct 17 2019, 10:20 AM
After posting some of the best results in a year the previous month, all three construction indicators fell back in September . The U.S. Census Bureau...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 5:27 PM
Overall construction spending has been virtually static for much of the year. The Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that it had risen by 0.1 percent f...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 10:56 AM
Despite expecting an economic slowdown as reflected in the gross domestic product (GDP), Freddie Mac published a pretty upbeat September forecast as t...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 8:47 AM
The final day of Q3 already… Aside from F1 drivers, did you know that Ferrari employees are not allowed to buy Ferrari cars? The exotic car market cer...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 10:16 AM
Pending home sales resumed their upward trajectory in August after declining 2.5 percent in July, making for positive results in three of the last fou...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 8:38 AM
Fannie Mae says consumer spending will continue to support the economy. The company's Economic Summary for September cites increases in auto and retai...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 10:23 AM
August turns out to have been among the year's strongest periods for residential construction. While analysts had expected builders to shake off some ...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 8:25 AM
This morning I find myself in Pittsburgh, PA for the MBA of Southwest Pennsylvania . (Yes, I am bound for lunch at Primanti Brothers.) It turns out th...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 11:20 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is anticipating an increase in new home sales in August. The organization's Builder Application Survey found th...
Thu, Sep 5 2019, 9:16 AM
Construction spending inched up by 0.1 percent in July, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.289 trillion compared to $1.288 trillion in June. T...
Tue, Sep 3 2019, 9:46 AM
A second housing price index is showing an uptick in the rate of appreciation, possibly because interest rates declines have begun to mitigate afforda...
Fri, Aug 30 2019, 8:12 AM
Housing led the way into the last recession, now Freddie Mac's economists are suggesting it might help stave off the next one or at least modify its s...
Wed, Aug 21 2019, 8:16 AM
Residential construction has been famously slow for several years and some new analysis of Census data by the National Association of Home Builders (N...
Mon, Aug 19 2019, 12:09 PM
Fannie Mae used a fair number of trade-offs in while coming up with its revised outlook for the real gross domestic product (GDP) this year. The compa...
Thu, Aug 1 2019, 4:17 PM
Construction spending in June missed matching the May level by 1.3 percent. Total spending by both public and private sources was at a seasonally adju...
Wed, Jul 31 2019, 10:55 AM
The housing market has been looking slightly better over the last few month and Freddie Mac July economic report reflects that fact. They also maintai...
Wed, Jul 17 2019, 11:25 AM
The residential construction numbers in June were expected to come in largely in the same neighborhood as in May. Analysts however got it only half ri...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 11:59 AM
Construction spending in May, dipping 0.8 percent compared to April's seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.304 trillion to $1.294 trillion. On an ann...
Tue, Jun 18 2019, 10:24 AM
Residential construction figures had been expected to, at a minimum, hold the fort in May after a mixed report in April. While revisions to the April ...
Mon, Jun 17 2019, 6:13 PM
Freddie Mac's forecast for June sees more dark clouds than usual , but few of those are on the housing front. The company's Economic and Housing Resea...
Tue, Jun 4 2019, 9:47 AM
Spending on construction was almost flat in April. The Census Bureau said total expenditures of both public and private money was essentially unchange...
Thu, May 16 2019, 9:59 AM
There was a small gain in residential construction permitting in April while housing starts rose strongly , both reversing their unexpected declines i...
Wed, May 15 2019, 9:55 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is seeing some softening in the residential remodeling sector. Carmel Ford noted in an article in NAH...
Wed, May 1 2019, 12:20 PM
Publicly and privately funded construction put in place in March had an estimated value of $1.282 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. This...
Wed, May 1 2019, 9:21 AM
Why don't you ever see the headline, “Psychic Wins Lottery?” Some people believe that economists have the ability to predict rates, bookmakers have th...
Tue, Apr 30 2019, 4:55 PM
Freddie Mac's April economic forecast focuses on interest rates and their impact on housing as the company's Economic & Housing Research Group revises...
Tue, Apr 30 2019, 10:44 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices for February continue to show a slowdown in home price gains on a year-over-year basis although all of the mont...
Mon, Apr 22 2019, 8:14 AM
Contrary to expectations, all three of the residential construction measures from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Devel...
Mon, Apr 1 2019, 11:25 AM
Total construction spending rose in February however the increase was almost totally in the publicly funded sector. The Census Bureau said total spend...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 10:10 AM
Residential construction numbers continued to see-saw in February. Housing starts were particularly disappointing after their stellar performance in J...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 12:41 PM
Like virtually all the experts, including those at the Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac's economists have reduced their expectations for economic growth ....
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 11:52 AM
Forecasts of slowing economic growth have been the norm for some time, but it is easy to sense greater confidence lately among those making them. Fann...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 12:13 PM
Construction spending in ticked up in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.280 trillion according to data released by the Census Bureau ...
Fri, Mar 8 2019, 12:35 PM
Permits rose in January, but the headline for the delayed residential construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing an...
Mon, Mar 4 2019, 11:43 AM
The Census Bureau, still playing catch-up from the partial government shutdown , has released its monthly construction spending report for December 20...
Fri, Mar 1 2019, 10:06 AM
Freddie Mac's economists see low interest rates continuing, at least through the end of next year . The company's Economic and Strategic Research Grou...
Tue, Feb 26 2019, 11:14 AM
Sometime things are just not worth the wait. The long-delayed December report on residential construction from the Census Bureau and the Department of...
Tue, Feb 19 2019, 10:33 AM
The Housing Market Index (HMI) continues to recover from the plunge it took in November and December when it dropped an aggregate of 12 points. The Na...
Fri, Feb 1 2019, 11:02 AM
Construction spending rose 0.8 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of $1.30 trillion compared to $1.29 trillion in October. The Census B...
Thu, Jan 31 2019, 11:51 AM
The chant throughout 2018 from housing industry sources was inventory, inventory, inventory - or lack of same. It was blamed first for rising home pri...
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...
