Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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AD&C Lending Expansion Slows
The volume of residential construction loans increased by 1.8% during the fourth quarter of 2016, marking 15 consecutive quarters of growth. However, the growth rate at the end of the year was the smallest since the start of 2013. Tight availability of acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans has been a limiting factor for home building growth, but easing credit conditions and a growing loan base have helped expand residential construction… Read More ›
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New Home Sales Post Slight Increase
New home sales contracts expanded by 3.7% in January over a soft December reading, according to estimates from the joint data release of HUD and the Census Bureau. Despite the gain, which places the January pace of sales 5.5% higher than a year ago, the current seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000 is slightly below the positive growth trend that has been in place over the last few… Read More ›
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Multifamily Construction: 4Q16
An elevated market share for new rental multifamily homes is holding typical apartment size below levels seen during the pre-recession period. However, as multifamily developers build more for-sale housing units in the years ahead, the average size of multifamily homes is likely to rise. The recent pattern of change in the size of new multifamily units stands in contrast to the post-recession increase in the size… Read More ›
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Small Gains for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent posted small gains over the course of 2016. However, the built-for-rent market is a small portion of the total single-family development, so care must be taken when identifying trends. According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, the market share of single-family homes built-for-rent, as measured on a… Read More ›
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2016 Custom Home Building Market Growth
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates that the number of 2016 custom home building starts (homes built on an owner’s land, with either the owner or a builder acting as the general contractor) set a post-recession high for an annual total. There were 41,000 total custom starts for the final… Read More ›
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Townhouse Construction Growth Continues
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction starts continued to grow on a year-over-year basis. Over the course of 2016, townhouse starts totaled 97,000, a more than 12% gain over the prior year total. The townhouse market recorded a faster growth rate than the overall single-family market for 2016…. Read More ›
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New Single-Family Home Size Trends
After increasing and leveling off in recent years, new single-family home size continued along a general trend of decreasing size during the fourth quarter of 2016. This ongoing change marks a reversal of the trend that had been in place as builders focused on the higher end of the market during the recovery. As the entry-level market expands, including growth for… Read More ›
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Single-Family Housing Starts Post Slight Gain
Total housing starts recorded a small decline in January, as multifamily starts fell back, albeit from an upwardly revised number in December. Total starts were down 2.6%, falling to a 1.246 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. However, single-family starts posted a small monthly increase in January, rising 1.9% to an 823,000 annual rate As measured on a three-month moving average, the current changes… Read More ›
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Residential Construction Employment Growing
The count of unfilled jobs in the overall construction sector declined recently, as residential construction employment accelerated in the last three months. According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs (on a seasonally adjusted basis) came in at 148,000 in December. The cycle high was 225,000 set in July. The open position rate (job openings… Read More ›
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2016 New Home Sales Up 12% Despite Weak December
Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 10% on a monthly basis in December to a weak 536,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. This was a surprisingly low reading for the series. My expectation is that it will be revised higher in the next report. While higher interest rates may have caused a reduction in… Read More ›