Eye On Housing
Rising home prices offset a quarter-point drop in mortgage interest rates to move housing affordability slightly lower in the second quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 59.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end of June were affordable to families… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes slipped two points to 64 in July from a downwardly revised June reading on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). It is the lowest reading since November 2016. Members are expressing significant concerns over rising material prices, particularly lumber. This issue, along with other significant supply-side… Read More ›
Rising wages and moderating home prices offset a rise in mortgage interest rates to give housing affordability a slight boost in the first quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 60.3 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable… Read More ›
NAHB conducted a national poll of young adults ages 18 to 25 to find out how this age group feels about a career in the construction trades. The majority of young adults (74%) say they know the field in which they want to have a career. Of these, only 3% are interested in the construction trades. Most of the young… Read More ›
Ongoing home price appreciation offset a small decline in mortgage interest rates to move housing affordability slightly lower in the third quarter of 2016, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 61.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were affordable to families… Read More ›
The total number of residential construction firms in the country (single-family builders, multifamily builders, and residential remodelers) dropped to around 689,000 in 2012, 12% lower than in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners (collected only in years ending in ‘2’ and ‘7’). While the industry as a whole contracted during those five years, the share… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending remained virtually unchanged in May at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $451.9 billion. Private nonresidential construction spending fell for a second consecutive month in May. Within private residential construction, spending on single-family dropped to $239.2 billion in April, down 1.3% over the upwardly revised April… Read More ›
Spurred by a modest reduction in mortgage interest rates and favorable home prices, nationwide housing affordability in the first quarter of 2016 posted a slight increase, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 65.0 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable… Read More ›
Industry benchmarks on profit margins, asset levels, and equity positions are important because they allow businesses to compare their performance to their peers, and that can be extremely helpful in identifying areas for improvement and increasing efficiencies. This is the reason why NAHB periodically conducts a survey asking single-family builders nationwide to (confidentially) provide us their income statements and balance… Read More ›
The NAHB Multifamily Production Index (MPI) held steady with a reading of 54 for the first quarter of 2015. This is the 13th consecutive quarter with a reading of 50 or above. The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about current conditions in the apartment and condominium market on a scale of 0 to 100. The index and all of its… Read More ›