Market Recap: Construction Spending Unchanged, Mortgage Apps Up, ADP Employment Numbers Positive

Blog posted On July 07, 2017

Mortgage rates started to trend upward after a few weeks of holding steady.  This month, US construction spending remained unchanged and private-sector jobs grew less than anticipated.  New purchase mortgage applications rebounded after last week’s declines, and refinance applications decreased slightly. 

US construction spending from April to May was unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.23 trillion, after upward revisions to April’s total. Residential construction was down 0.5% month-over-month, but up 10.9% year-over-year.  Spending on public projects picked up, driven by the construction of education structures, increasing by 2.1% month-over-month.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) releases a weekly survey of mortgage applications filed.  For the week ending on 6/30, new purchase applications increased 3.0% and refinance applications decreased -0.4% for a composite increase of 1.4%.  Mortgage rates started to rise this week, and buyers may be looking to lock rates before further increases.

The ADP employment report showed weaker-than-expected growth with the addition of 158,000 private-sector jobs.  Small businesses with between 50 and 499 employees led the growth trend with the addition of 91,000 jobs compared to the 50,000 jobs added by larger companies.  Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi insisted, “the job market continues to power forward.  At this pace, which is double the rate of labor force growth, the tight labor market will continue getting tighter.” 

Housing numbers for the month of June have been mixed, with gains and growth in some sectors and slowdowns in others.  Homebuilders are racing to replenish inventory as buyer demand outpaces supply.

Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, MarketWatch, Mortgage News Daily