Real Estate News by the Numbers: Week of March 25 – March 30

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A quick rundown of the important real estate news from the week of March 25 – March 30, by the numbers:

0.4%, 0.8%, 0.9%, 0.2% – Forecasted fall in commercial vacancy rates over the next year in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily rental market, respectively, according to the National Association of Realtors.

69% – Number of markets that saw a drop in the foreclosure rate between June and December 2011 according to a National Association of Realtors report. Between that time, the national foreclosure rate fell from 2.8% to 2.7%.

3% – Real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). It’s the third time the BEA has revised the figure upward.

5,000 – Drop in initial unemployment claims last week from the previous week. Unemployment claims were at 359,000, down from the revised figure of 364,000 from the previous week.

3.3% – Increase in mortgage purchase applications last week. Meanwhile, mortgage refinance applications dropped 4.6% over the same period.

0.83% – Decline in the non-seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller Composite-10 price index from December 2011 to January 2012. The Composite is now at the  lowest level since June 2003.

64.5% – Increase in investment home purchases in 2011 (1.23 million) from 2010 (749,00). Vacation home purchases were also up 7% to 502,000, year-over-year.

15.5% – Drop in home sales to Buyers who plan on living in the home according to the National Association of Realtors.

3.99% – Average rate this week on a 30 year fixed mortgage according to Freddie Mac. That’s down from last weeks average rate of 4.08%.

$17.2 Billion – Amount of new construction in New York City in 2011. NYC topped Forbes list of “American Cities with the Most New Construction.”

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.