Eye On 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 ›
The count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector pulled back in September, off a upwardly revised August estimate that 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 decreased to 278,000 in September. The August estimate of open construction jobs was revised up… Read More ›
In a recent NAHB survey, 65 percent of builders reported that the overall supply of developed lots in their areas was low to very low. This is up only one percent from June 2017, but significantly higher than the 42 percent posted in September 2012. The survey consisted of special questions appended to the instrument for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing… Read More ›
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 60.7 percent of all homes started in 2017 were built within a community or homeowner’s association. The Census Bureau defines community or homeowner’s associations as “formal legal entities created to maintain common areas of a development and to enforce private deed restrictions; these organizations are usually created when the… Read More ›
With the release of the first estimate of third quarter 2018 GDP growth (a 3.5% annual growth rate), housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) fell slightly to 14.9%. The home building and remodeling component – residential fixed investment – also decreased slightly, falling to 3.25% Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways. The first is through residential fixed investment (RFI). RFI is… Read More ›
In the third quarter of 2018, the nation’s economy grew at a slower pace than in the second quarter. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018, following the strong growth in the second quarter. It is… Read More ›
Pending home sales increased in September, but have decreased on an annual basis for nine consecutive months. The Pending Home Sales Index increased 0.5% in September, but remains down 1.0% year-over-year. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The PHSI increased to 104.6 in September,… Read More ›
Contracts for new single-family home sales declined in September, as eroding affordability conditions reduced sales volume. New single-family home sales declined to a significantly lower 553,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, a 5.5% drop from a downwardly revised 585,000 annual rate recorded in August. The sales data are produced by HUD and the Census Bureau. The weak September estimate was the lowest… Read More ›
Over the year, total nonfarm employment in September increased by 2.5 million jobs which is a 1.7% increase compared to September 2017. During this time, total nonfarm employment in the Southern region increased by 2.5% and in the Western region by 2.4%. The Midwest and the Northeast recorded the lowest gains at 1.3% during this time. According to the Bureau… Read More ›
Of the roughly 850,000 single-family homes started in 2017, 58.6 percent included 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). Among the outdoor features captured in the SOC, this makes patios considerably more common than decks (included on 23.8 of homes started in 2017),… Read More ›