Eye On Housing
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building expanded during the fourth quarter of 2019, supported by low mortgage interest rates. There were 44,000 total custom building starts during the fourth quarter of 2019. This marks a 16% gain over the final quarter of 2018 total of 38,000. Over the… Read More ›
In the fourth-quarter of 2019, builders and developers reported declining interest rates on all types of loans covered in NAHB’s quarterly survey on acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) financing (Exhibit 8). The average interest rate declined from 6.39 to 6.13 percent on loans for land acquisition, from 6.31 to 5.94 percent on loans for land development, from 5.99 to 5.63… Read More ›
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent (SFBFR) posted a year-over-year decline for the fourth quarter of 2019. The SFBFR market has received attention as a means to add single-family inventory amid concerns over housing affordability and downpayment requirements in the for-sale market. Single-family built-for-rent construction does differ in structure characteristics compared other newly-built single-family homes. According to NAHB’s analysis of… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, after a strong 2018, townhouse construction experienced weakness over the course of 2019. This recent market softness matches data in the NAHB HBGI, which revealed reduced construction activity for large metro suburban markets in 2019. These kind of higher density neighborhoods are often… Read More ›
Total housing starts posted a 3.6 percent decline in January (1.57 million units) compared to an upwardly revised December estimate of 1.63 million units according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to January 2019 (during the housing soft patch), total starts are 21.4 percent above the annual pace of 1.29 million units. Single-family starts… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged one point lower to 74 in February, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The last three monthly readings mark the highest sentiment levels since December 2017. Steady job growth, rising wages and low interest rates are fueling housing demand in a market… Read More ›
Over the year 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 854,158. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 0.2% increase over the December 2018 level of 852,856. Year-to-date ending in December, single-family permits reported declines in three regions and an increase in the South. The Northeast reported the steepest decline by 6.8%. The… Read More ›
Cost and availability of labor topped the list of problems builders faced in 2019, and is expected to return to the number one spot in 2020, according to special questions on the December survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The survey results showed that cost and availability of labor were a significant issue for 87% of builders last… Read More ›
New home sales were effectively flat in December, after downward revisions for prior months. However, the sales pace for newly-built single-family homes ended 2019 with a gain of 10%, increasing to a total of 681,000. This marks 2019 as the best year for new home sales since the Great Recession. Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined slightly in December… Read More ›
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Annual Resident Population of the United States as of July 1, 2019 was estimated at 328.2 million, increasing by 1.6 million from the previous year. Additionally, there was a significant downward revision to the national population estimated for 2018, by 480 thousand, to 326.7 million, effectively reducing the growth rate estimated for that… Read More ›