Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Builder Confidence Drops Four Points Amid Concerns Over Housing Affordability
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes fell four points to 56 in December on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) as concerns over housing affordability persist. Although this is the lowest HMI reading since May 2015, builder sentiment remains in positive territory. Builders report that consumer demand exists, but customers are hesitating… Read More ›
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Uptick for Construction Job Openings in October
The count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector increased in October, although the total remained lower than the August estimate, which marked a post-recession high. According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs expanded to 292,000 in October. The open position rate (job openings as a… Read More ›
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Continued Residential Construction Loan Growth
The volume of residential construction loans increased by 2.8% during the third quarter of 2018, marking 22 consecutive quarters of growth. Furthermore, recent stabilization of year-over-year growth rates is an indicator of continued, modest growth for single-family construction. Tight availability of acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans has been a limiting or cost factor for home building growth, but easing credit conditions and a growing loan base have… Read More ›
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Multifamily Construction Remains a Built-for-Rent Market
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 third quarter 2018 data, the average per unit square footage of multifamily housing construction starts was 1,125, off from the… Read More ›
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Gains for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent increased over the last four quarters. During this time period, construction starts of this type of housing totaled 43,000 homes, compared to 33,000 for the prior four quarters. There were 12,000 single-family built-for-rent starts for the third quarter of 2018. According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB… Read More ›
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Slight Growth 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 posted a small gain on a year-over-year basis. There were 54,000 total custom starts for the third quarter of 2018. This was a slight improvement over the third quarter of 2017 (51,000). Over the last four quarters, ending with the third quarter… Read More ›
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Entry-Level Home Inventory Yields Declining New Home Size
Continuing a multiyear trend, new single-family home size decreased during the third quarter of 2018. New home size has been falling over the last three years due to an incremental move to additional entry-level home construction. According to third quarter 2018 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area decreased to 2,320 square… Read More ›
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Townhouse Construction Continues Strong Performance
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction posted continued to outperform other building sectors during the third quarter of 2018. 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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Builder Confidence Drops as Housing Affordability Issues Rise
Growing affordability concerns resulted in builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes falling eight points to a level of 60 in November on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Despite the sharp drop, builder sentiment still remains in positive territory. Builders report that they continue to see signs of consumer demand for new… Read More ›
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Modular and Other Non-Site Built Housing
The total market share of non-site built single-family homes was 3.3% of single-family completions in 2017, according to Census Bureau Survey of Construction data and NAHB analysis. This share is expected to rise in 2018 and in the years ahead, due to the ongoing labor shortage in the residential construction sector and the need to lift labor productivity amid declining… Read More ›