After bottoming out at 19% in the first quarter of 2022, the popularity of new homes continues to rebound, as the share of buyers looking for new construction rose to 21% and 27% in the second and third quarters of the year, respectively. A possible factor behind this trend is that the inventory of new…
The share of adults planning a home purchase within a year rose to 15% in the third quarter of 2022, up from 13% in the first half of the year. The marginal increase suggests that the prospect of higher mortgage rates in the near term may be leading a small segment of consumers to consider…
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 44 states and the District of Columbia in September compared to the previous month while six states lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 in September, following a gain of 315,000 jobs in August. On a month-over-month basis, employment data…
Median square foot prices (excluding record-high improved lot values) for new for-sale single-family detached (SFD) homes started in 2021 increased 19%, according to NAHB’s analysis of the latest Survey of Construction data. Increases for square foot prices in new custom SFD homes were more moderate, averaging 5%. Median sale and contract prices per square foot…
As rising mortgage rates continue to cool the housing market, the volume of existing home sales has declined for eight consecutive months as of September, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate has increased from 3.11% at the start of the year to 6.9% this week, the…
Single-family housing starts declined further in September as high mortgage rates, ongoing building material production disruptions and flagging demand stemming from rising affordability challenges continue to put a damper on new home production. Overall housing starts decreased 8.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.44 million units in September, according to a report from…
In a further signal that rising interest rates, building material bottlenecks and elevated home prices continue to weaken the housing market, builder sentiment fell for the 10th straight month in October and traffic of prospective buyers fell to its lowest level since 2012, with the exception of two months during the Spring of 2020. Builder…
