Eye On Housing
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 ›
Recent Posts
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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 ›
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CPI Growth Slows in August
In August, headline inflation rose slower relative to July, while core inflation remained unchanged. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, slower than the 0.3% increase in July. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the “core” CPI increased by 0.3% in August, the… Read More ›
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Women in Construction: Employment Reaches Pre-Recession Levels
The number of women employed in the construction industry grew substantially in 2018 rising to 1.1 million, a total reached prior to the Great Recession. As the construction skilled labor shortage remains a key challenge, adding new workers is an important goal of the industry. Bringing additional women into the construction labor force could represent a potential opportunity for the… Read More ›
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Mortgage Refinancing Activity Dips But Still Strong
In the most recent wave of mortgage activity for the week ending September 6, 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Application Survey showed a continuing decline in interest rates, notably, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage to 3.49% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. The Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, increased 2% on a seasonally adjusted basis… Read More ›
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Building Materials Price Growth Slows in August
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction decreased by 0.8% in August (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials prices have declined an average of 0.1% per month over the last 12 months, compared to an average monthly increase of 0.8% during the same period 2017-2018…. Read More ›
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Construction Job Openings Up in July
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings increased in July, after a declines off a cycle high count for April. The estimated number of job openings in the construction sector increased to 373,000 in July after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The July 2019 count of unfilled jobs… Read More ›
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Revolving Debt Increases Significantly in Latest Consumer Credit Report
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows rising trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through July 2019. In July, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7 percent, the largest monthly percentage gain in its category in a year. Consumer credit totaled $4.1 trillion on a seasonally adjusted basis, with $1.1… Read More ›
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The Countertops and Colors Millennials Want in Their Kitchens
A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders highlights the preferred kitchen colors and features among recent and prospective Millennial home buyers (defined as those born after 1980). A considerable share of Millennials – 31 percent – prefer white kitchen cabinets. However, as far as other cabinet color options, Millennials are essentially split: 18 percent prefer dark… Read More ›
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New Home Price Data Underscore Affordability Problems
New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, combined with recent NAHB survey data, show a mismatch between the actual prices of new homes and the prices buyers expect to pay—providing further evidence for the growing problem of housing affordability. At the end of August, the Census Bureau released 2018 data from… Read More ›