Home borrowing costs continued to increase this week and hit their highest levels since May 2019. Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 3.92% this week with 0.8 in points and fees. The record low was 2.65% on January 7, 2021. The 15-year rate averaged 3.15% with a 0.8 average point. Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's Chief Economist said, "As rates and house prices rise, affordability has become a substantial hurdle for potential homebuyers, especially as inflation threatens to place a strain on consumer budgets."
Cold temperatures across the U.S. hampered new home construction last month. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that total Housing Starts fell 4.1% in January from December to an annual rate of 1.638 million units and rose 0.8% from January 2021. Single-family starts fell 5.6% monthly to 1.116 million and were down 2.4% year over year. Multi-family dwellings declined 2.1% monthly and increased 8.7% from January 2021 to January 2022. Building Permits, a sign of future construction, rose 0.7% monthly and up 0.8% annually.
First-time unemployment claims rose in the latest week and are now back down to more normal pre-shutdown March 2020 levels. At present, there are almost 11 million jobs available across the nation. The Labor Department reports that Weekly Initial Jobless Claims rose 23,000 to 248,000 for the week ended February 11. Continuing claims, or those receiving benefits for at least two weeks straight, fell to 1.593 million from 1.619 million.
Home borrowing costs increase. Housing Starts decline. First time unemployment claims rise.
Comments(0)