Housing Snapshot
For the third consecutive month, job growth in February continued to dawdle, raising questions about the strength of the U.S. economy despite a recent resurgence in the Gross Domestic Product. Only some 21,000 jobs were created, compared to expectations for 125,000. Economists believe that the monthly pace of job creation will have to quicken to the 200,000 level before the country will see a true job market recovery. For those looking for some more encouraging economic news last week, the residential mortgage market was the place to find it. With mortgage rates remaing unexpectedly low, at roughly the same levels as the week before, refinancings rose to a seven-month high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The lumber price story remained bleak last week, although the rates of the increases continued to slow. Random Lengths reported that framing lumber was up $3 to $392 per 1,000 board feet. The mill price for 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood was stable at $495 per 1,000 square feet, although still soaring over the $240 cost of a year earlier. Oriented strand board was slightly higher for the week, up $3 to $498 and well above last year's cost of $175 per 1,000 square feet. [ MORE ]
Mortgage Interest Rates
30-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.59%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 4.88%
1-Year ARM: 3.47%
Housing Starts - Jan. 2004*
Total: 1.903 million
Single-Family Starts: 1.537 million
Multifamily Starts: 339,000
New Home Sales Jan. 2004*
1.106 million
Existing Home Sales Jan. 2004*
6.04 million
* Seasonally adjusted annual rate