Eye On Housing
Over the first eight months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 576,798. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 3.7% decline over the August 2018 level of 599,117. Year-to-date ending in August, single-family permits reported declines in three out of the four regions. Northeast was the only region to post a growth… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC), nationally, there were 881,076 new single-family units started in 2018, 4% higher than the units started in 2017. It was the double of the units started in 2011, and still 49% less than the peak of 2007 (1,731,171 units). Among all the nine Census divisions, new single-family units started in… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased in August by 7.1% to a 713,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The increase came off a upwardly revised July estimate, which was increased from an initial reading of 635,000 to a new estimate of 666,000. Year-over-year, the August estimate is 18.0% higher. Sales continue… Read More ›
Total housing starts posted a 12.3 percent increase in August (1.364 million units) compared to an upwardly revised July estimate of 1.215 million units, according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to August 2018, total starts are 6.6 percent above the annual pace of 1.279 million units. Single-family production in August posted a monthly… Read More ›
Over the first seven months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 496,726. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 4.7% decline over the July 2018 level of 521,438. Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits reported declines in all four regions. The Midwest, Northeast, South, and the West declined by 8.7%, 1.6%, 2.8%,… Read More ›
Despite broader interest rate declines for government bonds and mortgages, NAHB industry survey data for the second quarter of 2019 indicates that interest rates for acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) remain stubbornly elevated. For example, loans for spec single-family home building averaged a 6.2% rate for the second quarter. These higher interest rates have caused the volume of loans outstanding… Read More ›
In the second quarter of 2019, interest rates on loans for land acquisition, development, and single-family construction (AD&C) continued to drift upward, according to results from NAHB’s quarterly AD&C Financing Survey. As the survey showed, relationships among the various subcategories of AD&C loans remained about the same, with the highest average interest rate—6.59 percent—recorded on loans for land acquisition loans,… Read More ›
The news in today’s newly-built home sales report was found in the estimates for June, rather than July. Contracts for new, single-family home sales decreased in July by 12.8% to a 635,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. However, that decline came off an significantly upwardly revised June estimate,… Read More ›
How do homes built-for-rent differ from more common for-sale new single-family homes? This is an important question given recent attention on the built-for-rent sector of the residential construction industry. Second quarter data for 2019 reveal that approximately 42,000 homes were built-for-rent over the last year, representing about 5% of single-family construction. Though this figure continues to trend modestly higher as… 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 second quarter of 2019 after a strong 2018 performance. This market softness matches recent data in the NAHB HBGI, which showed weak construction activity for large metro suburban markets at the start of 2019. Nonetheless, townhouse construction is… Read More ›