Housing Starts, Purchase Originations 2016, Consumer Spending

October 20, 2015

Tuesday – October 20

Construction on new homes rose in September from August after declines in the two previous months. The Commerce Department reported that September Housing Starts rose 6.5% from August to an annual rate of 1.210 million units, above the 1.150 million expected. The report went on to reveal that single-family starts rose modestly, while there was a 17% increase in multi-family units. However, Building Permits, a sign of future construction, fell 5%.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Tuesday that it forecasts that purchase originations should increase by 10% in 2016 from 2015. However, the MBA sees refinance originations decreasing by one-third in the same time period. The MBA is forecasting purchase originations of $978 billion and refinance originations of $331 billion for a total of $1.31 trillion. “We are projecting that home purchase originations will increase in 2016 as the U.S. housing market continues on its path towards more typical levels of turnover based on steadily rising demand and improvements in the supply of homes for sale and under construction,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.

The National Retail Federation released its Holiday Consumer Spending Survey on Tuesday and expects the average spending per consumer this year will be $805.65, up slightly from 2014’s $802.45. That figure is the highest in the surveys 14-year history and includes food, gifts, decorations and other items. In addition, online purchases will make up 46% of consumer buying, above 2014’s 44.4%. Online retailer Amazon expects to hire 100,000 U.S. workers to handle holiday orders.