Housing Finance Roundup: July 13, 2020

MBA NewsLink summarizes more than half a dozen new reports from Redfin; Zillow; First American Financial Corp.; Fitch Ratings; ATTOM Data Solutions; and Black Knight.

An Upbeat Jobs Report, Followed by a ‘Misclassification Error’

At 8:30 a.m. on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a surprising May unemployment report: instead of the 8 million job losses expected by economists’ consensus, the report showed a dramatic 2.5 million increase in jobs, and a 1.4 percent dip in the unemployment rate, from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent. But there was a catch–a huge catch.

Calm Before the Storm? February Housing Starts Dip 1.5%, Pre-Coronavirus

HUD and the Census Bureau reported privately owned housing starts in February fell slightly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.599 million—a not discouraging number, analysts said, ahead of the yet-to-be-seen impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

January Jobs Report Beats Expectations

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 225,000 in January, beating economists’ expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.