Economy and Housing Market - Alert for June 29, 2009

Weekly summary brief of housing statistics and other economics.

Latest Data Remains Lackluster
Housing starts and building permits continued to pull back in May.  Housing starts fell to their lowest levels since March 1991 while building permits declined 1.3% from the previous month.  Sluggish conditions in the housing markets also caused builder confidence to fall to all-time lows with the NAHB Housing Market Index (HMI) dropping a single point to 18 which ties the lowest reading ever recorded in the index's 22-year history. ....... 

The Economy
Housing starts fell 3.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,00 in May which is the lowest pace since March 1991.  Total permit issuances also dropped 1.3% from April levels with single-family issuances declining 4.0% from the previous month.  The number of multi-family (5+) building permits jumped 6.4% to 314,000 in May........

Housing Market
National average mortgage rates increased to 6.42% in the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey released weekly by Freddie Mac on June 19th.  This is the fourth straight week that rates have increased and the highest rates have been since September 2007.  In the week ending June 18th, the MBA's seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index declined to 360.2 from 376.2 in the previous week.  Purchase applications have declined in two out of the past three weeks.  The latest figure reflects a 4.25 percent decrease from last week and a 20.12 percent drop from the same period last year.......

Don't let these statistics frighten you.  There is money to be made in this type of market. 

Share your ideas on how to invest in this market.

Please contact me for all your Relocation and/or Real Estate needs:

Pam Jank, GRI, CRS, ABR, RRS, PPS
Your North Idaho Real Estate Pro
Web:  http://www.SellingNorthIdaho.com
eMail to: PamJank@hotmail.com
Phone:  208-661-2282
Fax:  208-772-6282
Toll Free:  800-829-2555 EXT.1275
COLDWELL BANKER SCHNEIDMILLER REALTY
435 W. Hanley Avenue
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