The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance decreased by 26 basis points to 3.50% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of July 11--the twentieth consecutive weekly decline.

Strong buyer demand partially offset building material supply-side challenges, regulation and labor as builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched down one point to 80 in July, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reported.

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell testified before Congress last week and received several questions regarding recent inflation trends, with overall CPI inflation increasing 5.4 percent in June 2021 compared to a year ago. This followed readings of 4.2 percent in April and 5.0 percent in May. The headline inflation number was the highest in 13 years, while the recent monthly pace of core inflation is the highest since the early 1980s.