Despite a housing market slowdown but reflecting persistent long-term labor challenges, wages in construction continue to rise, often outpacing and exceeding typical earnings in other industries. According to the latest Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), average hourly earnings (AHE) in construction vary greatly across 43 states that reported…
Lower mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to push new home sales up in March, even as builders continue to grapple with increased construction costs and material supply disruptions. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated sales of newly built, single-family homes in March at a 683,000…
Single-family production showed signs of a gradual upturn in March as stabilizing mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to offset stubbornly high construction costs, building labor shortages and tightening credit conditions. This is reflected in the slight uptick in builder sentiment in April. Overall housing starts in March decreased 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual…
Builders remained cautiously optimistic in April as limited resale inventory helped to increase demand in the new home market even as the industry continues to grapple with building material issues. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes in April rose one point to 45, according to the National Association of Home Builders…
Over the first two months of 2023, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 112,131. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is 34.3% below the February 2022 level of 170,716. Year-to-date ending in February, single-family permits declined in all four regions. The Northeast posted a decline of 23.6%, while the West…
Earlier this year, we published a post highlighting a continuing high reliance of construction on immigrant workers post pandemic. Immigrants make one in four construction workers. The share is significantly higher, reaching 30%, among construction tradesmen. In some states, reliance on foreign-born labor is even more pronounced with immigrants comprising close to 40% of the…
