As rising mortgage rates and higher home prices continued to price out homebuyers, existing home sales declined for four consecutive months, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, the trend in home price appreciation continued as supply remained tight. The median existing home prices in May surpassed $400,000, the highest level on record…
In the first quarter of 2022, multifamily home building showed greater growth across all regional markets compared to the first quarter of 2021, per the NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). Apartment construction far outpaced single-family building in all regional geographies but especially in lower density markets1. Low rental vacancy rates and rising rents gave…
Single-family starts declined further in May, as higher interest rates weighed on housing affordability. This follows a sixth straight monthly decline for the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI. Additionally, the cost and availability of materials, lumber, labor and lots remain key supply-side headwinds. Single-family permits decreased 5.5% to a 1.05 million unit rate in May. Despite declines…
To fight persistent inflation, the Federal Reserve has committed to significantly cooling demand. This approach reflects a non-monetary policy failure to fix underlying supply-side challenges that are pushing up inflation. The Fed lacks policy tools to make these supply-side fixes, so it must rely on demand-side impacts to bring down inflation by reducing economic growth….
Rising inflation and higher mortgage rates are slowing traffic of prospective home buyers and putting a damper on builder sentiment. In a troubling sign for the housing market, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its sixth straight monthly decline in June, falling two points to 67, according to the National…
The prices of goods used in residential construction climbed 1.8% in May (not seasonally adjusted) and have increased 19.4%, year-over-year, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Prices have surged 40.4% since January 2020. Building materials (i.e., goods inputs to residential construction, less energy) prices have increased 5.4%, year-to-date, and are 36.3% higher…
Over the first four months of 2022, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 377,713. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 1.7% decline over the April 2021 level of 384,196. Year-to-date ending in April, single-family permits declined in three out of the four regions. The South posted a…
