Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Large Revision for June New Home Sales
The news in today’s newly-built home sales report was found in the estimates for June, rather than July. Contracts for new, single-family home sales decreased in July by 12.8% to a 635,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. However, that decline came off an significantly upwardly revised June estimate,… Read More ›
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Multifamily Construction Data: 2nd Quarter 2019
An elevated rental share of multifamily construction is holding typical apartment size below levels seen during the pre-Great Recession period. As multifamily developers build more for-sale housing units in the years ahead, the average size of multifamily homes is likely to rise. According to second quarter 2019 data, the average per unit square footage of multifamily housing construction starts was 1,103, off from… Read More ›
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Contrasting Built-for-Rent and For-Sale New Single-Family Homes
How do homes built-for-rent differ from more common for-sale new single-family homes? This is an important question given recent attention on the built-for-rent sector of the residential construction industry. Second quarter data for 2019 reveal that approximately 42,000 homes were built-for-rent over the last year, representing about 5% of single-family construction. Though this figure continues to trend modestly higher as… Read More ›
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Townhouse Construction Weaker
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction slowed during the second quarter of 2019 after a strong 2018 performance. This market softness matches recent data in the NAHB HBGI, which showed weak construction activity for large metro suburban markets at the start of 2019. Nonetheless, townhouse construction is… 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 49,000 total custom starts for the second quarter of 2019. This was down slightly compared to the second quarter of 2018 (50,000). Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 169,000. This was… Read More ›
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New Single-Family Home Size Continues Trending Lower
New single-family home size decreased during the second quarter of 2019 as interest rates declined. According to second quarter 2019 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area ticked down to 2,245 square feet. Average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes declined to 2,465 square feet. On… Read More ›
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Flat Conditions for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent has held steady over the last year amidst declines for other forms of home construction. (You can read more here on how single-family built-for-rent homes differ from for-sale construction.) According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were 11,000 single-family built-for-rent starts for… Read More ›
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Single-Family Starts Continue Improvement in July
According to estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, the pace of single-family construction continued to improve in July. After reaching a post-winter low annualized rate of 814,000 in April, single-family starts expanded to an 876,000 pace in July, a 1.3% gain over the revised June estimate. However, single-family starts remain 3.3% lower a on a… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence Trending Higher as Interest Rates Move Lower
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 66 in August, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Sentiment levels have held at a solid 64-to-66 level for the past four months. Even as builders report a firm demand for single-family homes, they continue to struggle… Read More ›
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Lower Interest Rates: What They Mean for Housing and the Economy
Recent jolts to the economy stemming in part from an intensified trade war with China have worried markets and resulted in a significant decline in interest rates as investors have shifted from equity to bonds. Lower interest rates present an opportunity for the housing market, which has failed so far to respond energetically to this positive development due to prior… Read More ›