Housing Snapshot
With mortgage interest rates persisting at lower levels than originally anticipated for this point in the year, the Commerce Department and the National Association of Realtors reported escalating home sales last month. Mortgage rates climbed just a tad last week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly index, but remained at favorable levels for home buyers. For the most part, the week's general economic news was also good. Consumer spending and personal income were both up in February, and the University of Michigan's gauge of consumer confidence showed some improvement earlier this month. On the lumber price front, framing lumber was up again, rising $6 to $377 per 1,000 board feet, according to Random Lengths. The slow downward trend of the past few weeks continued in the costs of plywood and oriented strand board. The mill price for 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX Southern Westside plywood was $465 per 1,000 square feet, a drop of $5, and OSB was $490. That represented a decline of $20 but was still far ahead of the $172 price posted a year earlier. [ MORE ]
Mortgage Interest Rates
30-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.4%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 4.7%
1-Year ARM: 3.36%
Housing Starts - Feb. 2004*
Total: 1.855
Single-Family Starts: 1.489
Multifamily Starts: 366,000
New Home Sales Feb. 2004*
1.163 million
Existing Home Sales Feb. 2004*
6.12 million
* Seasonally adjusted annual rate