US construction spending leaps as homebuilding rises; 30-yr fixed mortgage at 3.11%

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On Monday, US Commerce Department data had unveiled that US construction spending stepped up in November, mostly driven by a strong upsurge in US homebuilding activities, as contractors appeared to be racing on to complete US houses ahead of a likely mortgage rate hike next year.

In point of fact, in the latest flashpoint of a roaring US homebuilding market on fourth quarter of 2021, construction of single-family homes, the most lucrative item in US housing market, had reported the largest gains, while lay offs on public projects remained feeble.

US construction spending rises; average long-term mortgage rates soar

According to US Commerce Department data, US construction spending advanced 0.4 per cent in November that followed a similar gain a month earlier, missing an analysts’ estimate of 0.6 per cent.

Nonetheless, US construction spending jumped 9.3 per cent over past twelve months through November on a year-on-year basis, while spending on private projects rose 0.6 per cent and lay offs on residential construction leapt 0.9 per cent.

Besides, single-family homebuilding expenses spiked 1.2 per cent higher, though multi-family housing projects fall 0.3 per cent. If truth is to be spoken, still US homebuilding activity remained highly constrained by a lag in available workers alongside a sky-scrapping inflation-surge, as spending on public projects had witnessed a downward spiral of 0.2 per cent in November.

Meanwhile, data from US mortgage buyer Freddie Mac had unveiled that average US 30-yr fixed mortgage rates rose by 0.06 percentage points to 3.11 per cent, while 15-yr fixed mortgage rates added 0.03 per cent to 2.33 per cent.