Eye On Housing
After an upward revision, March and April newly-built single-family homes sales data indicate that lower mortgage rates and price incentives increased the volume of transactions as the spring home buying season stabilized after weakness in late 2018. Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined to a 673,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD… Read More ›
Despite some recent improvement, household formations have been lagging since the latest downturn. The accompanying effects have been many—including a lower rate of housing production, a lower rate of replacing older housing units, a consequently aging housing stock, and increased doubling up. Remodeling is also potentially affected, as the tendency to double up may be accommodated in part by modifying… Read More ›
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building was effectively flat over recent quarters. There were 29,000 total custom starts for the first quarter of 2019. This was down slightly compared to the first quarter of 2018 (31,000). Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 170,000. This was… Read More ›
Last week’s post covered general issues related to Aging-In-Place (such as how many professional remodelers do it, and how many of their customers are receptive to it), using data from NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey for the 4th quarter of 2018. This post covers some of the more detailed questions from the same survey, including specific types of Aging-in-Place projects undertaken… Read More ›
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent declined at the start of 2019. According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were 5,000 single-family built-for-rent starts for the first quarter of 2019. This is lower than the 6,000 estimated for the start of 2018. Over the last four quarters, 42,000 such homes began construction…. Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction slowed during the first quarter of 2019 after a strong 2018 performance. Nonetheless, townhouse construction is set for further expansion given the demographics of renters entering the for-sale market, as well as ongoing land constraints and the growth of demand for… Read More ›
According to estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, single-family and multifamily starts improved in April, consistent with the recent stabilization of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Single-family starts increased 6.2% to an 854,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace in April. Total multifamily starts increased 4.7% to a 381,000 annualized rate. On a year-to-date basis,… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose three points to 66 in May, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Builder sentiment is at its highest level since October 2018 after declines in late 2018 due to higher interest rates and concerns over slower growth. Builders are catching up after… Read More ›
In the first quarter of 2019, 13% of adults reported plans to purchase a home within a year. That is just slightly below where the share stood a year earlier, at 17%. The decline marks the second consecutive year-over-year drop in the share of adults planning to buy a home, providing further evidence that the deterioration in affordability is having… Read More ›
Lower home prices, declining mortgage rates and solid income gains contributed to a rise in housing affordability in the first quarter of 2019, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). However, the HOI was little changed on a year-over-year basis, as home buyers continue to face ongoing challenges in terms of limited inventory,… Read More ›