Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Private Residential Construction Spending Rises for the Sixth Consecutive Month
NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending increased 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $540.7 billion in December 2019. With the support of decreasing mortgage interest rates, it was the sixth consecutive monthly increase after declines in the first half of 2019. Nevertheless, the value of total private residential construction… Read More ›
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Personal Income Up 0.2 Percent in December
The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income rose slightly (by 0.2%) in December, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $18,922 billion. The gains in personal income were mostly from increases in wages and salaries and personal interest income, which were partially offset by a drop-off of $36.2 billion in… Read More ›
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Homeownership Rate Reaches Six-Year High
According to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), the U.S. homeownership rate increased to 65.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019. This is 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter reading of 64.8% and the highest the rate has been since the last quarter of 2013. Even so, the homeownership rate remains well below the 25-year average rate… Read More ›
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NAHB 2020 “Priced Out” Estimates
NAHB recently released its 2020 priced out estimates. The new estimates show that, if the median new home price goes up by $1,000, 158,857 households would be priced out of the housing market nationwide. In other words, based on their incomes, 158,857 households would be able to qualify for a mortgage to purchase the home before the price increase, but… Read More ›
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Basements Continue to Fall Out of Favor
NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that 60.1% of all new single-family started in 2018 were built on slab foundations, followed by 24.3% with a full/partial basement, and 14.3% with a crawl space. The gap between slab and full/partial basement foundation adoption rates is growing: the share of new homes built on slabs steadily increased from 46.0%… Read More ›
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Private Residential Spending Rises in September
NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $511.4 billion in September, the highest level since December 2018. It inched up 0.6% in September, after increasing 0.8% in August and 1% in July. Private residential construction spending rebounded in the third quarter after decreasing for… Read More ›
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Personal Income Edges up in September
The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income rose slightly by 0.3% on a month-over-month basis in September after a 0.5% increase in August. The 0.3% gains in personal income, which is at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $50.2 billion, were largely limited to personal interest income, farm proprietors’ income,… Read More ›
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Homeownership Rate Bounces Back
According to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), the U.S. homeownership rate increased to 64.8% in the third quarter of 2019, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous quarter reading of 64.1%. This puts the national homeownership rate back to a level near where it started dropping as interest rates increased. The rate reached a cycle low… Read More ›
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Time to Build a Single-Family Home in 2018
The 2018 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 7.7 months, which in general includes almost a month from authorization to start and another 6.7 months to finish the construction. The time from authorization to completion varies across the nation and depends on the geographic location, metropolitan… Read More ›
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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 ›