Eye On Housing
Many Remodelers Are Now Creating ADUs
Despite some recent improvement, household formations have been lagging since the latest downturn. The consequences have been many—including a lower rate of housing production, a lower rate of replacing older housing units, a therefore aging housing stock, and increased doubling up. Remodeling is also potentially affected, as the tendency to double up may be accommodated in part by modifying an… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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Existing Home Sales Slightly Down in April
Following a sharp decline in March, existing home sales, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), continued to fell in April despite lower interest rates and a strong labor market. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in April. On a year-over-year basis, sales were… Read More ›
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New Single-Family Home Size: First Quarter 2019 Data
New single-family home size increased slightly at the start of 2019, as the market slowed. According to first quarter 2019 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area ticked up to 2,355 square feet. Average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes increased to 2,584 square feet. On… Read More ›
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California Leads Job Gains in April
Total nonfarm employment, seasonally adjusted (SA) increased by 2.6 million jobs, year-over-year (YoY), or 1.8% from April 2018 to April 2019. During this time, total nonfarm employment in the Western region increased by 2.0%. The South, Northeast, and Midwest recorded gains at 1.7%, 1.2% and 1.0% respectively, during this time. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payroll employment… Read More ›
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Flat Conditions for Custom Home Building
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building was effectively flat over recent quarters. There were 29,000 total custom starts for the first quarter of 2019. This was down slightly compared to the first quarter of 2018 (31,000). Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 170,000. This was… Read More ›
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Curb-less Showers Now Among the Most Common Aging-In-Place Projects
Last week’s post covered general issues related to Aging-In-Place (such as how many professional remodelers do it, and how many of their customers are receptive to it), using data from NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey for the 4th quarter of 2018. This post covers some of the more detailed questions from the same survey, including specific types of Aging-in-Place projects undertaken… Read More ›
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Declines for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent declined at the start of 2019. According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were 5,000 single-family built-for-rent starts for the first quarter of 2019. This is lower than the 6,000 estimated for the start of 2018. Over the last four quarters, 42,000 such homes began construction…. Read More ›
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Townhouse Construction Slows at Start of 2019
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction slowed during the first quarter of 2019 after a strong 2018 performance. Nonetheless, townhouse construction is set for further expansion given the demographics of renters entering the for-sale market, as well as ongoing land constraints and the growth of demand for… Read More ›
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Starts Gain Ground But Permit Weakness Continues
According to estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, single-family and multifamily starts improved in April, consistent with the recent stabilization of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Single-family starts increased 6.2% to an 854,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace in April. Total multifamily starts increased 4.7% to a 381,000 annualized rate. On a year-to-date basis,… Read More ›
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“Seriously Delinquent” Loans Decline
The quarterly National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows a decline in the serious delinquency rate across all the categories of loans, continuing the downward trend that has persisted since the middle of the Great Recession. These categories of loans are Conventional loans, VA loans, and FHA-insured loans, for which the serious delinquency rates as of March 2019… Read More ›