News & Insights

Trouble in U.S. Housing; Europe Faces an Energy Crisis; Banks Raise Credit Standards; Solid Retail Sales

Interest Rates Hikes are Biting Housing

Recent stats published by Redfin show that home purchase cancelations rose to 16.1% in July, approaching the peak lockdown levels of March 2020. Single family home starts and permits have both fallen off significantly over the past few months, as has the National Association of Home Builders index. Multi-family housing starts and new permits appear to be holding up fairly well, but this is a poor leading indicator when compared historically against single-family units. Mortgage applications also continued to decline, tracking with housing affordability which has continued to plummet. Mortgage rates have come down from June’s recent high of 5.98%, but are still the highest they’ve been since 2008.