Eye On Housing
Examining the Spatial Distribution of Rental Housing
With disruption to home construction from the Great Recession and more recently, declining affordability of homeownership, the number of renters in the US has expanded, reaching 109 million in 2017 or 34 percent of the population (up from 89 million and 30 percent in 2007). As renting becomes more common, it is important to examine the types of rental structures… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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Apartment Construction Took Longer in 2018
The average length of time to complete construction of a multifamily building, after obtaining authorization, is 16.2 months, according to the 2018 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau. The authorization-to-completion time has been on an upward trend since 2013. The average time to build multifamily homes varies with the number of units in the building. In 2018,… Read More ›
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Existing Home Sales Continue to Strengthen in August
Boosted by low mortgage rates, existing home sales, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), rose to 17-month high in August. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, climbed 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million in August, the largest gain since March 2018. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 2.6% up than… Read More ›
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Age Distribution of the Construction Labor Force
The latest labor force statistics from the 2018 Current Population Survey show that the construction industry continues to struggle to attract younger workers. While workers under the age of 25 comprised 12.3% of the US labor force, their share in the construction industry reached only 9% in 2018. Meanwhile, the share of older construction workers ages 55+ increased from less… Read More ›
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Fed Lowers Rates in September
The Federal Reserve reduced the key, short-term federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a top rate of 2% at the conclusion of its September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This was the second cut in 2019, partially reversing a set of increases enacted in 2018. The more dovish stance of the Fed is good for housing and… Read More ›
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Housing Starts Rebound in August
Total housing starts posted a 12.3 percent increase in August (1.364 million units) compared to an upwardly revised July estimate of 1.215 million units, according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to August 2018, total starts are 6.6 percent above the annual pace of 1.279 million units. Single-family production in August posted a monthly… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence Hits Yearly High in September
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 68 in September from an upwardly revised August reading of 67, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Sentiment levels have held in the mid- to upper 60s since May. Builders’ optimism in recent months is being fueled by low… Read More ›
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Single-Family Permits Decline in July
Over the first seven months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 496,726. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 4.7% decline over the July 2018 level of 521,438. Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits reported declines in all four regions. The Midwest, Northeast, South, and the West declined by 8.7%, 1.6%, 2.8%,… Read More ›
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Share of New Homes with Fireplaces Drops to Record Low
Only 41 percent of single-family homes started in 2018 included fireplaces, according to NAHB tabulation of recently released data from the Survey of Construction (produced by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial funding from HUD). This percentage is the lowest on record since NAHB began tabulating the data in a consistent fashion in 2001. Since 2015, the share of single-family… Read More ›
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Exurbs Lead Apartment Construction Gains in the Second Quarter
The second quarter of 2019’s recent permit data shed new light on NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), not only in manufacturing, which is its newest cut, but also in its first vein of analysis, a population density-based delineation of all the counties in the U.S., known as regions. New permits for multifamily dwellings have historically been the highest in… Read More ›