According to the latest Housing Trends Report, home buyers’ affordability expectations deteriorated throughout 2021. By the fourth quarter, the share of buyers who could afford less than half the homes available in their markets was at 76%. That share had risen all year: from 63%…
In early 2018, only 16% of home buyers expected that finding a home would be easier in the months ahead. The share soared during the early phase of the pandemic, reaching 36% by the end of 2020. But in 2021, buyers’ perceptions of housing inventory…
Thanks to a surge in residential investment during 2020 and ongoing strength in 2021, housing’s share of GDP remains elevated compared to most of the post-Great Recession period. Due to the pandemic, market conditions evolved with a renewed focus on the importance of home, a…
Real GDP growth accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2021 despite omicron’s spread. This quarter’s growth reflected strong gains in private inventory investment and consumer spending. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at…
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed 77.8% of new home sales in the fourth quarter of 2021—the largest share since Q1 2008. The share increased 2.9 percentage points over Q3 2021 (revised)…
At the conclusion of its January policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee strongly signaled that it will undertake its first, post-covid increase of the federal funds rate in March. The Fed is tightening monetary policy in response to the highest inflation readings in nearly…
New single-family home sales increased in December as housing demand was lifted by buyers accelerating some contract signings due to anticipated higher mortgage interest rates in 2022. However, for the year as a whole, sales ended 7.3% lower than a supercharged 2020, as builders slowed…
