Housing starts dropped unexpectedly again in November to 1.289 million on an annualized basis, continuing the downtrend that began in 2022. The increase in starts from rebuilding in the South after the hurricanes was not enough to offset declines in the Midwest and the West. But the downside ... READ MORE >
Real estate
How Canadian real estate leaders can adapt and succeed in a volatile 2025
Canadian real estate leaders must decide how to act in 2025 as further interest rate cuts loom, stricter immigration policies take effect and the federal government’s 10-year bonds are up. Real estate leaders view these challenges through a lens of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity ... READ MORE >
Housing starts and permits fall in October as hurricanes take a toll
Housing starts and building permits in the United States fell in October for the second straight month largely because of the two hurricanes in the South and the recent rebound in mortgage rates. Housing starts, a key indicator of residential real estate performance within gross domestic product, ... READ MORE >
Housing starts and permits ease in September
Housing starts and building permits pulled back in September after a red-hot August, suggesting that the road to a housing market rebound won’t be smooth, even as interest rates drop. The market remains demand-driven, with the current and future supply of new homes staying below the threshold for a ... READ MORE >
Fed loan officer survey shows CRE standards continue to tighten
Recent trends in commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans continued in a status-quo fashion in the second quarter of 2024, according to the latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey results released last week by the Federal Reserve. Standards for commercial real estate continue to ... READ MORE >
Jobless claims ease as housing starts drop
Initial jobless claims dropped by 5,000 last week to 238,000 yet remained elevated near a 10-month high. For now, the spike in new claims in the previous weeks looks a lot more like a seasonal issue than a deterioration in labor market conditions. In contrast, housing starts fell in May to the lowest ... READ MORE >
U.S. new home sales miss forecasts amid rising mortgage rates
New home sales fell below estimates in April as mortgage rates surged to above 7%. The data, released by the Census Bureau on Thursday, pointed to a disappointing month for housing sales, following the drop in April’s existing home sales released on Wednesday. The rebound in inflation in the first ... READ MORE >
Soft housing and manufacturing data fuels prospect of rate cut
Economic data on housing, manufacturing and jobs released on Thursday pointed to softer-than-expected economic activity in the second quarter. Most notably was April’s data on housing starts and permits, which not only came in below estimates, but prior readings were also revised down. Rising mortgage ... READ MORE >
Senior Loan Officer Survey: Progress halts as inflation rebounds in Q1
Progress toward normalization in lending practices generally halted in the first quarter as the Federal Reserve turned more hawkish amid the rebound in inflation, according to data in a Fed report released on Monday. The Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices showed that demand ... READ MORE >
Existing home sales plunge amid stable jobless claims
March proved challenging for the housing market as sales of existing homes plummeted by 4.3%, marking the steepest drop since November 2022, according to the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. This decline mirrors earlier setbacks in housing starts and permits. A significant uptick in ... READ MORE >