Eye On Housing
NAHB 2020 “Priced Out” Estimates
NAHB recently released its 2020 priced out estimates. The new estimates show that, if the median new home price goes up by $1,000, 158,857 households would be priced out of the housing market nationwide. In other words, based on their incomes, 158,857 households would be able to qualify for a mortgage to purchase the home before the price increase, but… Read More ›
Recent Posts
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Remodelers’ Confidence Increases in Fourth Quarter of 2019
The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 58 in the fourth quarter of 2019, up three points from the previous quarter (Figure 1). The RMI has been consistently above 50—indicating that more remodelers report market activity is higher compared to the prior quarter than report it is lower—since the second quarter of… Read More ›
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Existing Home Sales End Year with Solid Gain
After a slight decline last month, existing home sales, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), surged to near two-year high in December. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million in December, the highest level since February 2018. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 10.8%… Read More ›
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Age-Restricted Homes Slightly Smaller, Pricier than Others Started in 2018
Of the roughly 875,000 single-family and 375,0000 multifamily homes started in 2018, 29,000 and 31,000, respectively, were age-restricted according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and partially funded by HUD). A housing development can legally restrict the ages of its residents, provided it conforms to one of the set… Read More ›
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Custom Home Building Annual Share
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), the custom home share declined to 19.5 percent of all single-family homes started in 2018—lowest since mid-2000. Contractor-built or owner-built houses – that together make up the custom home market – are built one at a time for owner occupancy on owner’s land with either the owner or a… Read More ›
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Share of First-Time Home Buyers Rises Significantly in the Final Quarter of 2019
According to NAHB’s latest Housing Trends Report, the share of adults who are considering purchasing a home in the next 12 months fell to 11% in the final quarter of 2019, down from 13% a year earlier. This decline marks the fifth consecutive year-over-year drop in the share of American adults planning to buy a home in the year ahead,… Read More ›
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Year-over-Year Decline for Construction Job Openings
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings posted a monthly decline in November and a substantial decrease on a year-over-year basis. The estimated number of job openings declined from the October total (326,000) to 214,000 in November, after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The November 2019 count of… Read More ›
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Strong Growth Rate for Housing Starts Going into 2020
Total housing starts posted a 16.9 percent increase in December (1.608 million units) compared to a upwardly revised November estimate of 1.375 million units according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to December 2018, total starts are 40.8 percent above the annual pace of 1.14 million units, a pace that will likely be revised… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence Begins Year Strong as Single-Family Growth Continues
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged one point lower to 75 in January, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The last two monthly readings mark the highest sentiment levels since July of 1999. Low interest rates and a healthy labor market combined with a need for additional inventory… Read More ›
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Building Materials Price Growth Slowest Since 2015
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction advanced 0.2% in December (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials prices increased 0.1% per month, on average, in 2019. The price of goods used in residential construction rose 1.5% over the year, representing a 0.4ppt slowdown from the… Read More ›