Eye On Housing
Of the 848,000 single-family homes started in the U.S. in 2017, roughly 79,000 were nonmetropolitan—that is, they were built outside one of the officially-defined metropolitan areas—as reported in a recent NAHB study, At 79,000, nonmetropolitan single-family starts were up 40 percent from the trough in 2011, compared to a 97 percent for single-family starts overall. The NAHB study is based on territory… Read More ›
The volume of residential construction loans decreased 0.2% during the fourth quarter of 2018, ending a period of 22 consecutive quarters of growth. While the decline was small, the slowdown in the stock of lending for development purposes mirrors a recent NAHB survey finding neutral conditions for AD&C lending as interest rates increased. Tight availability of acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans has been a limiting… Read More ›
Despite a period of weakness during the Fall of 2018, new home sales ended 2018 up 1.5% compared to the total for 2017. Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased almost 4% to a 621,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. However, the surprisingly strong initially reported November pace was revised down from a… Read More ›
With the delayed December data now published, the pace of single-family starts declined for the fourth consecutive month as housing affordability concerns weighed on the home construction market at the end of 2018. However, home building posted gains in 2018 relative to 2017. Total single-family and apartment construction starts were up 3.6% for the year, according to the joint data… Read More ›
The most recent American Community Survey (ACS) data revealed that the worrying trend of rising shares of young adults living with parents, relatives or sharing house with roommates continued in 2017. Only 40% of young adults ages 25 to 34 lead their own household in 2017. In comparison, close to 46% of adults in this age group were household heads… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose four points to 62 in February, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Ongoing reduction in mortgage rates in recent weeks coupled with continued strength in the job market are helping to fuel builder sentiment. In the aftermath of the fall slowdown, many… Read More ›
Interest rates on loans for residential acquisition, development, and construction (AD&C) generally increased throughout 2018, according to results from NAHB’s fourth quarter AD&C survey. For the fourth quarter, builders and developers responding to the survey reported a median interest rate that varied from 5.75% on loans for pre-sold single-family construction, to 5.88% on loans for land development, to 6.00% on loans… Read More ›
Vacancy rates are one of the key statistics NAHB Economics tracks to judge the health and direction of the housing market. The currently low homeowner and rental vacancy rates are typically interpreted as a sign of tight housing markets, with lower vacancy rates signaling a greater housing shortage. NAHB’s analysis of the latest 2017 ACS vacancy data highlights the metropolitan… Read More ›
Despite the housing-focused slowdown during the second half of 2018, the count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector surged in December. According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs increased to a cycle high of 382,000 in December. This is significantly higher than the December 2017 estimate of… Read More ›
Over the first eleven months of 2018, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 799,679. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 5.1% increase over the November 2017 level of 761,229. The preliminary results from the New Residential Construction Survey are similar, year-to-date single-family permits over the first eleven months of 2018 was, 800,000 which is… Read More ›