Eye On Housing
For the first time since 2012, builders and developers reported tighter credit conditions on loans for land acquisition, development and single-family construction (AD&C) in NAHB’s AD&C financing survey for the first quarter of 2020. The net tightening index derived from the NAHB survey jumped to 22.7, about 40 points higher than the -22.3 reported in the fourth quarter of 2019. … Read More ›
During the first quarter. GDP growth posted its worst performance since the Great Recession, recording a -4.8% growth rate. However, housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) increased slightly to 14.9%. The home building and remodeling component – residential fixed investment – also increased slightly, rising to 3.3%. As the economy begins a recovery later in 2020, we expect housing… Read More ›
Despite a strong start for 2020, new home sales weakened significantly in March due to challenges associated with COVID-19. Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined in March by 15.4% to a 627,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. NAHB expects further declines in a challenging April, which has… Read More ›
A recent NAHB survey shows the negative effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the decision to remodel. Over 90 percent of remodelers in the survey reported a slowdown in both the rate at which inquiries are coming in, and in the general willingness of homeowners to remodel at this time. This information was collected via a question added to… Read More ›
By now, many cities have classified residential construction as an essential business: an activity allowed to continue during the coronavirus-induced shutdown. This in itself may not be sufficient to keep construction going, however, and some jurisdictions have also started to allow virtual inspections as an attempted remedy. Data on these trends were collected recently through questions on the survey for… Read More ›
In a recent NAHB survey, the vast majority of builders said they were allowing non-construction employees to work from home, but they were also implementing several measures to allow them to continue selling homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The most common of these is private showings of model homes, but online and drive-through closings are also being offered. This information… Read More ›
According to estimates from the Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Departments, single-family starts began an expected, virus-related decline in March. Construction activity is expected to fall as virus mitigation efforts result in increased unemployment, economic uncertainty and lost business activity. Despite a strong start for 2020 in January and February, the April NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI point to additional construction… Read More ›
Reflecting the growing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes plunged 42 points in April to 30, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The decline in April was the largest single monthly change in the history of the index and marks the lowest builder confidence… Read More ›
In an online poll conducted by NAHB in recent days, 90 percent of multifamily developers said the coronavirus has had an adverse effect on how long it takes to obtain a plan review for a typical multifamily building, and 88 percent said it has had an adverse effect on timely collection of rent payments. The poll collected 49 responses from… Read More ›
Over the first two months of 2020 – and prior to the impact of the coronavirus, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 141,467. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 21.8% increase over the February 2019 level of 116,189. Year-to-date ending in February, single-family permits reported growth across the four regions ranging from 27%… Read More ›