Housing Snapshot
More favorable economic news arrived last week with the announcement from the Commerce Department that the nation picked up 248,000 new jobs in May. Added to big gains in March and April, almost 950,000 jobs were created in the past three months. "What a difference a year makes," said Commerce Secretary Donald Evans. "A wakeup call has been sent that the United States economy is back." Mortgage interst rates dropped slightly last week, Freddie Mac announced on Thursday. Economists at the secondary market institution noted that Adjustable Rate Mortgages are accounting for about one-third of the current home purchase market. Lumber prices remained high last week, with little clear evidence that they are headed decisively in a downward direction. The price of framing lumber rose to $436 per 1,000 board feet, according to Random Lengths, a $3 increase. Framing lumber was at $288 for the same week a year earlier. After a couple of weeks of softening, the price of panels was up again: 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX southern west-east plywood rose to $410 per 1,000 square feet, up $10 from the previous week; and oriented strand board rose to $400, from $360 the week before. [ MORE ]
Mortgage Interest Rates
30-Year Fixed-Rate: 6.28%
15-Year Fixed-Rate: 5.63%
1-Year ARM: 3.98%
Housing Starts - Apr. 2004*
Total: 1.969 million
Single-Family Starts: 1.610 million
Multifamily Starts: 359,000
New Home Sales Apr. 2004*
1.093 million
Existing Home Sales Apr. 2004*
6.64 million
* Seasonally adjusted annual rate
