Housing Snapshot - February 21, 2005 Mortgage interest rates rose slightly last week but remained at affordable levels. The market seemed to focus on positive economic news, said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, causing mortgage interest rates to go up. "That said, January housing starts were the highest in over 20 years," he said, "and that is based on higher rates than we are currently experiencing. All in all, the little run-up in rates that occurred this week will not be enough to cause a significant slowdown in current housing market activity." The economic news turned less favorable last Friday, when the Labor Department announced that the Producer Price Index was up 0.3% in January and the core rate was up 0.8%, the highest in more than six years. The Conference Board announced that consumer confidence was down in February but still ahead of levels a year earlier. The National Association of Business Economics predicted that the nation's economy will grow by 3.6% this year, down from 4.4% in 2004. Lumber prices continued to rise last week, but at a considerably slower pace than in previous weeks. The cost of framing lumber rose to $426 per 1,000 board feet, up from $422 the previous week and $374 a year earlier, according to Random Lengths. The panel composite price, which includes plywood and oriented strand board, rose to $459 per 1,000 square feet, up from $455 during the previous week. It was $549 one year earlier. 
 | Mortgage Interest Rates | | 30-Year Fixed-Rate | 5.62% | | 15-Year Fixed-Rate | 5.14% | | 1-Year ARM | 4.15% | | Housing Starts - Jan. 2005* | | Total | 2.159 million | | Single-Family Starts | 1.76 million | | Multifamily Starts | 399,000 | New Home Sales
Dec. 2004* | 1.098 million | Existing Home Sales
Dec. 2004* | 6.69 million | | * Seasonally adjusted annual rate |
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