Eye On Housing
Total housing starts posted a 16.9 percent increase in December (1.608 million units) compared to a upwardly revised November estimate of 1.375 million units according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to December 2018, total starts are 40.8 percent above the annual pace of 1.14 million units, a pace that will likely be revised… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged one point lower to 75 in January, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The last two monthly readings mark the highest sentiment levels since July of 1999. Low interest rates and a healthy labor market combined with a need for additional inventory… Read More ›
In December, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) released a working paper announcing the release of an updated version of the Wharton Land Use Regulatory Index. The paper’s lead author, Joseph Gyourko, is a professor at the Wharton School who is well known for his research in this area and worked with the previous version of the index. The… Read More ›
Home building in the 2010s was a story of the Long Recovery. After the Great Recession, the number of home builders declined significantly, and housing production was unable to meet buyer demand. This deficit of housing in the United States continues to exist because of persistent supply-side headwinds for builders, creating a critical housing affordability challenge for renters and homebuyers…. Read More ›
According to a recent NAHB study, although use of some factory-produced components like trusses has become widespread, the newer and more innovative types of construction technology, such as 3D printing and robots, have so far penetrated the residential market only to a very limited extent. This is true for both single-family builders and residential remodelers. Data on use of technology… Read More ›
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 62.5 percent of all homes started in 2018 were built within a community or homeowner’s association. A total of 543,000 homes with community associations were started in 2018, compared to 508,000 in 2017. The Census Bureau defines community or homeowner’s associations as “formal legal entities created to maintain common… Read More ›
New home sales posted a small gain in November, after downward revisions for prior months. However, the sales pace for newly-built single-family homes is ending the year strong, with solid demand pointing to additional construction gains in 2020. Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased slightly in November by 1.3% to a 719,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates… Read More ›
The shortage of lots that has been hindering the housing recovery eased somewhat in 2019, but remains elevated by historical standards, according to a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The survey consisted of a set of special questions included on the instrument for the September 2019 NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The survey asked… Read More ›
Of the roughly 876,000 single-family homes started in 2018, 59.4 percent came with patios, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and partially funded by HUD). This is the highest the number has been since NAHB began tracking the series in 2005. The incidence of patios on new homes… Read More ›
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings posted a monthly decline in October but remain higher on a year-over-year basis. The estimated number of job openings declined from the September total (327,000) to 311,000 in October, after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The October 2019 count of unfilled… Read More ›