NAHB Leaders Put Focus on Housing Issues at Democratic Convention

In an ongoing effort to promote a national housing agenda …

Housing Snapshot

Mortgage interest rates increased slightly last week, for the first time in five weeks. The Census Bureau reported that the nation's homeownership rate had increased to an all-time high of 69.2%. Growth of the gross domestic product slowed to an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department, down from 4.5% in the first quarter. A big factor in the slowdown was a decline in consumer spending, which was down from a 4.1% rate of growth in the first quarter to 1% in the second. Overall, the consumer price index was up 3.3% for the first half of the year. The Bush Administration now projects 4.7% growth for this year and 3.7% for 2005. On the lumber price front, prices are moving up again after a short hiatus earlier this summer. The cost of 1,000 board feet of framing lumber climbed to $460, up from $440 the previous week and $299 a year earlier, according to Random Lengths. The price of 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX southern west-east plywood was $370, up from $330, per 1,000 square feet and oriented strand board jumped from $305 to $340.

Mortgage Interest Rates
30-Year Fixed-Rate	6.08%
15-Year Fixed-Rate	5.49%
1-Year ARM	4.17%
Housing Starts - Jun. 2004*
Total	1.8 million
Single-Family Starts	1.489 million
Multifamily Starts	313,000
New Home Sales Jun. 2004*	1.326 million
Existing Home Sales Jun. 2004*	6.95 million
* Seasonally adjusted annual rate