Housing Snapshot
Mortgage interest rates remained low last week, with a slight drop. Freddie Mac economists are now expecting 30-year, fixed-rate loans to average 5.75% for the year, and they are suggesting that home sales will set another record. Concerns about terrorism and turbulence in the Middle East continued to rattle the stock market and losses on Wall Street overshadowed other economic news, including a modest decline in February's housing starts to a more sustainable level. New claims for unemployment declined last week for the third week in a row. Wholesale inflation for January rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in the Producer Price Index, reflecting a surge in energy and some materials prices. Prices for wood products headed down, but Oriented Strand Board and plywood remained at lofty levels. Framing lumber dropped $21 to $371 per 1,000 board feet, Random Lengths reported. The mill price for 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood was $371 per 1,000 square feet, down $20 from the previous week, and OSB was $490, down $8. [ MORE ]
Mortgage Interest Rates
30-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.38%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 4.69%
1-Year ARM: 3.39%
Housing Starts - Feb. 2004*
Total: 1.855
Single-Family Starts: 1.489
Multifamily Starts: 366,000
New Home Sales Jan. 2004*
1.106 million
Existing Home Sales Jan. 2004*
6.04 million
* Seasonally adjusted annual rate