I think we'll continue to see weaker housing starts, but the slowing will be more modest than the 8% decline we saw in February.
It is very evident that the steam is coming out of the housing market even though rates moved down.
It's pretty clear that housing is slowing. Rising mortgage rates and the very fast rising homes prices are constraining home buying. Homes are still considered affordable, but not as much so as a year ago.
People who spent money on travel and luxury goods are spending more money entertaining themselves at home.
Mortgage lending is an opportunistic business and when business declines, the instinct is to consolidate to become more efficient, and that is what we are seeing.
I do not think this is indicative of housing being strong, but rather that fact that people are expecting rates to rise and they are taking advantage of that.
During the holiday-shortened week, the MBA may have overcompensated its seasonal adjustment of the data.
We see a slowing in home-price appreciation. But some markets could see a significant decline.
With job loss and credit quality as it is, you would think demand for housing would be more depressed, but it has remained remarkably resilient.
There is a strong push among immigrants to purchase homes. About a decade ago, this country had a surge in immigrants who have only recently begun the home buying process.
