Eye On Housing
First Year-To-Date Price Decline in March for Building Materials Since the Great Recession
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction decreased 0.8% in March (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The year-to-date decline in residential construction inputs prices is the first January-to-March decrease since the Great Recession. Building materials prices have fallen 1.8% since March 2019 by -0.15% per… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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Jobless Claims Hit 6.6 Million Last Week
The U.S. Department of Labor released Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report for the week ending April 4th. In the past three weeks, about 16.8 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. In the week ending April 4th, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits, known as jobless claims, reached to a… Read More ›
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Virus Now Impacting Traffic for Nearly All Builders
In the third week of NAHB’s online poll, the coronavirus’s impact on traffic of prospective buyers has become almost ubiquitous. A full 96 percent of respondents said the virus was having at least some adverse effect on traffic, and 72 percent characterized it as a major adverse effect. This result is based on 256 responses collected online between March 31… Read More ›
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Closed-Ended Credit Surged in February
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows rising trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through February 2020. In February, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.4% from the previous month, with revolving debt1 increasing by 4.6% and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 7 percent. Consumer credit totaled $4.2 trillion on a… Read More ›
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Backwards-Looking Job Data for Construction Show Potential
Given the growing number of economic impacts from mitigation efforts associated with the coronavirus, early 2020 labor market data is of much reduced analytical value. However, the data help to describe where the economy was before the shocks of March and the potential for gains in an eventual rebound we expect to take hold during the fourth quarter. February data… Read More ›
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Young Adults Headship Trends Reversed Pre-Coronavirus
For the first time in decades, headship rates of young adults ages 25-34 increased in 2018. This was a hopeful indicator that the troublesome trend of rising shares of young adults living with parents, relatives or sharing house with roommates finally reversed. Whether the trend reversal can be sustained through and post the coronavirus outbreak depends on the duration and… Read More ›
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Significant Loss Began to be Reported in March Jobs Report
Total payroll employment fell by 701,000 in March and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. The March loss reflected the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Residential construction employment decreased by 4,300 in March, after a revised increase of 24,100 in February. Total construction industry (both residential and nonresidential) employment totaled about 7.6 million in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics… Read More ›
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Week 2 Poll Shows Impacts of Virus on the Rise
The second week of NAHB’s online poll showed that several of the coronavirus’s impacts on the residential construction industry have become more widespread and severe. Once again, traffic ranked as the most widespread problem, with 93 percent of respondents saying the coronavirus has had an adverse impact on traffic of prospective buyers. This result is based on 318 responses collected… Read More ›
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How Home Building Can Lead a Recovery by Generating Jobs
As the U.S. economy struggles under the burden of the coronavirus pandemic, economists are discussing how a recovery might unfold once social distancing and other measures begin to succeed. A recent NAHB article illustrates the role home building can play in a recovery by generating jobs. The article published updated estimates of the national economic impact of home building. The… Read More ›
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Mortgage Rates Fall Back in March
Information compiled by Freddie Mac shows that mortgage rates decreased on a monthly basis. As of end of March, the 30-year FRM – Commitment rate, declined by two basis points to 3.45 percent from 3.47 percent in February. The cycle peak was 4.87 percent in 2018 November. Given the market volatility due to the rapidly spreading Coronavirus COVID-19, the Federal… Read More ›