The stock market futures were showing a positive opening but have since declined after the housing start information below. At the time of writing the market has dropped to -71.00.
The U.S. housing sector continued to show weakness in January. Housing starts and building permits sunk to new record lows for the second consecutive month.
U.S. housing starts fell to an annualized pace of 466k, representing a month-over-month decrease of 16.8%, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The consensus was for January to show a decline to 529k. The previous month's reading was revised up to 560k from a previously reported 550k.
Single-family homes,the most important component in the report, accounting for four-fifths of housing starts - fell 12.2% to 347k, compared to the previous month's
395k. Single-family units have been falling for 20 of the past 21 months.
Building permits fell to 521k in January, down from 547k in December. The consensus was looking for 525k building permits.
President Barack Obama's housing plan details are expected to be announced today.
Short term and long term floating look safe today. I will provide additional mortgage trends as the day continues.
* Please note that if you have a mortgage interest rate and monthly payment you are comfortable with you may want to consider locking that rate. It is very difficult to predict the market in these very volatile times. Most lenders have a rate renegotiation policy. Contact me for details. 800-941-5616
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