Home building ended 2021 with strong annual gains as demand accelerated in the wake of the pandemic. These annual gains were realized despite supply-chain limitations for materials and ongoing access issues for labor and lots. Single-family starts ended 2021 with a 13.4% increase for a total of 1.123 million starts. Multifamily 5+ unit construction ended…
Growing inflation concerns and ongoing supply chain disruptions snapped a four-month rise in builder sentiment even as consumer demand remains robust. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes moved one point lower to 83 in January, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI…
Over the first eleven months of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 1,029,208. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 15.9% increase over the November 2020 level of 888,217. Year-to-date ending in November, single-family permits increased in all four regions. Southern region reported the strongest increase of 17.6%,…
The latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly application surveys shows a decline for refinancing and an increase in mortgage purchasing. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate increased, averaging close to 3.4 percent for the month and was 3.52 percent in the latest week, the week ending January 7th. In the latest week, total mortgage applications, as…
The prices of goods used in residential construction ex-energy climbed 1.5% in December (not seasonally adjusted), according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index was driven higher by large price increases for wood products. Building materials prices increased 15.9% in 2021 and have risen 18.6% since December…
Led by higher prices for shelter and used vehicles, consumer prices soared by 7.0% in December from a year ago. It was the largest year-over-year gain since June 1982. However, energy prices fell in December, ending a long series of increases. Supply-chain constraints and strong consumer demand related to the pandemic and the reopening of…
Researchers in the home building industry should be aware that the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year ACS data for 2020 instead of the standard 1-year 2020 estimates. This change is due to the disruption of data collection operations by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, affecting the quality of these estimates. The Census…
