Housing Snapshot - August 2, 2004 - 8/2/2004 - Mortgage Loan Refinance Debt Equity

Housing Snapshot - August 2, 2004

Mortgage interest rates increased slightly last week, for the first time in five weeks. The Census Bureau reported that the nation's homeownership rate had increased to an all-time high of 69.2%. Growth of the gross domestic product slowed to an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department, down from 4.5% in the first quarter. A big factor in the slowdown was a decline in consumer spending, which was down from a 4.1% rate of growth in the first quarter to 1% in the second. Overall, the consumer price index was up 3.3% for the first half of the year. The Bush Administration now projects 4.7% growth for this year and 3.7% for 2005. On the lumber price front, prices are moving up again after a short hiatus earlier this summer. The cost of 1,000 board feet of framing lumber climbed to $460, up from $440 the previous week and $299 a year earlier, according to Random Lengths. The price of 15/32-inch 3-ply CDX southern west-east plywood was $370, up from $330, per 1,000 square feet and oriented strand board jumped from $305 to $340.