Buoyed by falling mortgage rates, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to 58 in January on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The gradual decline in mortgage…

Overall, the price of materials inputs to residential construction declined 1.8% in December (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While most building materials prices s…

In December, a big drop in energy prices dragged down headline inflation below zero, while core inflation remained steady. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), declined by 0.1% in December on a seasonally ad…