Eye On Housing
Over the first five months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 342,116. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 5.8% decline over the May 2018 level of 363,327. Year-to-date ending in May, single-family permits reported declines in all four regions. The Midwest, West, South, and the Northeast declined by 10.6%, 11.0%, 2.8%,… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined to a 626,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in May according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. This was a surprising drop due to recent softening of mortgage interest rates and continued low unemployment. Recent months’ data have been relatively positive, with the revised March pace of 705,000… Read More ›
Total housing starts posted a 0.9 percent decrease in May (1.269 million units) compared to an upwardly revised April estimate of 1.281 million units, according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to May 2018, total starts are 4.7 percent below the annual pace of 1.332 million units. Single-family production in May posted a monthly… Read More ›
Over the first four months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 261,119. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 6.5% decline over the April 2018 level of 279,302. Year-to-date ending in April, single-family permits reported growth only in the Northeast region of the country. The South, Midwest, and the West regions declined… Read More ›
After rising throughout most of 2018, with one minor exception, interest rates on loans for residential acquisition, development, and construction (AD&C) backed off slightly in the first quarter of 2019, according to results from NAHB’s latest AD&C survey. The NAHB survey showed average first quarter interest rates of 6.56 percent on land acquisition loans, 6.25 percent on loans for land… Read More ›
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 ›
New single-family home size increased slightly at the start of 2019, as the market slowed. According to first quarter 2019 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area ticked up to 2,355 square feet. Average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes increased to 2,584 square feet. On… 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 ›
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 ›