Housing Snapshot - January 31, 2005 - 1/31/2005 - Mortgage Loan Refinance Debt Equity

Housing Snapshot - January 31, 2005

The cost of fixed-rate mortgage financing was down just a tad last week. "Interest rates will likely remain calm," predicted Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. The Commerce Department on Friday released figures on growth of the Gross Domestic Product, which was 4.4% for the year but only at an annual pace of 3.1% in the fourth quarter, below market expectations and down from 4% in the third quarter. The Fed will release its policy statement this week, "giving financial markets a better sense of what future actions the Fed may be contemplating," said Nothaft. "All of this will help determine where mortgage rates will be in the near future." Lumber prices demonstrated some weakness last week, clouded by severe weather conditions in the Northeast, Midwest and California. The cost of framing lumber rose slightly to $384 per 1,000 board feet, up from $382 during the previous week, according to Random Lengths, and higher than its year-earlier price of $354. Plywood and oriented strand board prices continued to move down, with the panel composite price declining from $396 per 1,000 square feet to $375. The price was $484 a year earlier. Random Lengths also reported that with OSB leading the way, the U.S. production of structural panels hit another record in 2004.