Eye On Housing
Millennial Housing Demand and Regional Building Trends: 3Q19 HBGI
Supply and resulting affordability challenges for millennials were highlighted in the most recent NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). The third quarter HBGI also offers more region-specific insights of single- and multifamily home building trends, including their connections to millennial-intensive areas. Single-family home building in rural areas posted a solid growth rate of 1.1% for the third quarter of 2019,… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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Strong Job Growth in November
Total payroll employment increased by 266,000 in November, while the unemployment rate declined to 3.5%. Residential construction employment was little changed (-500) in November, after an increase of 5,400 jobs in October (revised). Total construction industry (both residential and nonresidential) employment totaled about 7.5 million in November. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Employment Situation Summary for November. Total… Read More ›
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Specialty Rooms Wanted by Millennial Home Buyers
A laundry room is the most popular specialty room (anything other than a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen) among Millennial home buyers, with 86 percent of them reporting that it is a desirable (36 percent) or essential/must have (50 percent) room (Figure 1). This data comes from a recent NAHB report, What Home Buyers Really Want (2019 Edition), which is based… Read More ›
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Air Conditioning and Heating Systems in New Homes
The Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) provides valuable information on the characteristics of new homes started construction, such as air conditioning and heating system installations. In 2018, 93.7 percent of new single-family homes started had a central AC system, almost the same share as in 2017 (93.5 percent). The trend, going back to 2000, shows a steady rise in the share… Read More ›
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Mortgage Application Volume Declines
In the latest tally of mortgage activity, for the week ending November 29, 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Application Survey showed a 7.5% drop from the previous week in conventional mortgage activity, which includes both purchases and refinances, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Overall, the market composite index, which includes conventional mortgages, saw a 9.2% increase on a seasonally… Read More ›
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New Homes Built with Private Wells and Individual Septic Systems in 2018
NAHB Economics analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) data shows that about 9% of new single-family homes started in 2018 were served by individual wells and almost 16% have private septic systems. These shares, however, vary widely across the nine Census divisions with the corresponding shares reaching 31% and 37% in New England – the highest occurrence rates in… Read More ›
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Millennial Areas Front and Center to Housing Affordability Challenges
The third cut of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) defines “Millennial counties” as those having at least a 26% share of total population belonging to the Millennial generation (born between 1981-1997). The top 25% of counties with a high millennial concentration represent 62% of the U.S. population. These counties also constitute 59% and 80% of single-family and multifamily construction,… Read More ›
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Gain for Construction Loan Volume During Third Quarter
After a slight (and delayed) dip in interest rates for AD&C loans, the stock of outstanding residential construction loans expanded during the third quarter of 2019. The volume of 1-4 unit residential construction loans made by FDIC-insured institutions increased 0.8%. The volume of loans increased by $628 million during the quarter, placing the total stock of loans at $80.3 billion…. Read More ›
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Slight Increase in the 30-Year Mortgage Rate in November
For the second consecutive month, information compiled by Freddie Mac shows that mortgage rates increased slightly on a year-over-year basis. As of end of November 2019, the 30-year FRM – Commitment rate, increased by one basis points to 3.70 percent from 3.69 percent in October. The cycle peak was 4.87 percent in November. The Federal Reserve maintained the benchmark interest… Read More ›
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Share of New Homes with Decks Declines in 2018
Of the roughly 876,000 single-family homes started in 2018, 22.6 percent included decks, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and partially funded by HUD). This is down over a full percentage point from he 23.8 percent recorded a year earlier. From 2005 to 2008, the share of new… Read More ›