Eye On Housing
At the conclusion of its May meeting, the Federal Reserve held the key, short-term federal funds rate steady, with a top rate of 2.5%. The decision was unanimous and widely expected, with members of the Federal Open Market Committee agreeing that while economic growth conditions remain “solid,” inflation pressures remain anchored. In fact, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the core… Read More ›
In response to NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey for the 3rd quarter of 2018, roughly 85 percent of remodelers reported shortages of workers available to perform finished or rough carpentry, and nearly half (48 percent) classified the shortage of finished carpenters as serious. Although these percentages are down slightly from a year earlier, they remain seriously elevated. The RMI… Read More ›
With the release of the first estimate of first quarter 2019 GDP growth (3.2% growth rate), housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) continued a downward trend, more evidence of the the lack of housing supply caused and affected by ongoing housing affordability issues. Housing’s share of GDP fell to 14.7%. The home building and remodeling component – residential fixed… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased almost 5% on a monthly basis to a 692,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The months’ supply number improved to 6.0, which indicates the market is stabilizing after the fall off in sales last Fall due to higher interest rates. The… Read More ›
According to a estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, single-family starts continued to show weakness in March, despite the recent stabilization in the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). After downward revisions made to the February data, single-family starts were down 0.4% to a 785,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace in March, the lowest such rate… Read More ›
A new NAHB study presents the most recent and comprehensive estimates of home building employment, including self-employed workers, by state and congressional district. NAHB Economics estimates that out of 10.3 million people working in construction in 2017, more than 4 million people worked in residential construction, accounting for 2.6% of the US employed civilian labor force. Despite steady job gains… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 63 in April, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Sentiment levels have held in the low 60s for the past three months. Builders report solid demand for new single-family homes but are also grappling with affordability concerns… Read More ›
Over the first two months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 116,189. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 6.2% decline over the February 2018 level of 123,871. Year-to-date ending in February, single-family permits reported growth only in the Northeast region of the country. The South, Midwest, and the West regions declined by… Read More ›
In the average new home, 28.0 percent of the finished floor space is allocated to bedrooms and 11.2 percent to the kitchen area, according to a recent NAHB study. The study is based on special questions appended to the November 2018 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The questions covered 13 specific types of areas or rooms, plus… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased almost 5% to a 667,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. This gain came despite an upward revision for the January data. However, the previously reported December data was revised down significantly to a 588,000 rate. The months’ supply number improved to 6.1, which indicates the… Read More ›