New home sales dropped 10.9% to 603,000 in September from August, continuing the downtrend since a recent high in late 2020, according to data from the Census Bureau. Since the start of the year, U.S. sales have dropped more than 28% in total as housing demand has slumped. The steep rise in mortgage ... READ MORE >
Real Estate
Real estate and the middle market go hand in hand. Developers in commercial, residential and industrial markets provide the economic fuel to transform local economies, building infrastructure that leads to new business and job creation.
Concerns over Canada’s housing market weigh on real estate investors
The growing uncertainty facing Canada's housing market was the focus of the 6th Annual Real Estate Canada Forum held on Oct. 6 in Toronto. The closed-door forum brought together real estate investors amid concerns over continued interest rate hikes and the resulting market cool-down. A key takeaway was ... READ MORE >
Electric vehicle infrastructure creates opportunities for real estate
The adoption of electric vehicles has grown tremendously over the past year and a half. The trend will accelerate as consumer demand, which is being fueled by higher gasoline prices, tax incentives, funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, and the increased desire for environmental sustainability, ... READ MORE >
U.S. housing starts continue to fall amid rate hikes
New housing starts fell by 8.1% in September as the impact of rising mortgage rates worked through the housing market, the Census Bureau reported on Wednesday. There were 1.4 million housing starts on an annualized basis in September, significantly lower than the 1.7 million that we see as needed to ... READ MORE >
Accounting for climate risks in business decisions
After a slow start, hurricane season has taken a significant toll in North America this year. Hurricane Fiona devastated Canada’s Atlantic provinces, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. Less than a week later, Hurricane Ian laid waste to vast areas of Florida and the Southeastern United ... READ MORE >
Pending home sales fall to their lowest level since April 2020
Pending home sales in the United States fell by 2% in August, the third straight monthly decline amid a steep rise in mortgage rates, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. On a year-ago basis, pending sales fell by a whopping 22.6%, continuing to signal more room ... READ MORE >
Canada housing starts fall amid rising rates
Canada’s housing starts fell to 267,443 in August, a 3% drop from July, continuing the decline in the housing sector because of rising interest rates, according to data released on Friday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The drop, which stemmed entirely from starts of multiunit ... READ MORE >
Core capital goods investments grow while pending home sales fall
Strong durable goods orders and shipments in July showed that businesses continue to make long-term investments despite rising prices and concerns of a recession. Although the top-line number for new orders reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday remained flat on the month compared to June, ... READ MORE >
New home sales down 40% this year to lowest level since 2016
The slump in new home sales continued last month, dropping 12.6% to 511,000 annualized, following a 7.1% drop in June, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. With July's decline, new home sales for the year are off by nearly 40% compared to last year. The decline brought the sales number to the ... READ MORE >
Existing home sales fall below pre-pandemic level as initial jobless claims hold steady
Existing home sales fell in July to their lowest level since 2020 amid elevated mortgage rates as the Federal Reserve continued to hike interest rates. Sales dropped 5.9% to 4.81 million annualized, marking the sixth straight month of market contraction, the National Association of Realtors reported on ... READ MORE >