The U.S. economy continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2022. As consumer spending and private inventory investment helped increase GDP, residential fixed investment dragged down the contribution to percent change in real GDP by 1.29 percentage points. More importantly, the data from the GDP report suggests that inflation is cooling. The GDP price…
Housing’s share of the economy edged lower at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. This is the second straight quarter where GDP increased in 2022, with overall GDP increasing at a 2.9% annual rate, following a 3.2% increase in the third quarter and 0.6% decrease in the second quarter. However, due to higher…
Interest for new home construction weakened in the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by high mortgage rates and elevated new home prices. The latest Housing Trends Report (HTR) shows that the share of prospective buyers looking to buy new construction dropped to 20% in the final quarter of 2022, down from 27% a quarter earlier….
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia in December compared to the previous month, while 18 states lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in December, following a gain of 256,000 jobs in November. On a month-over-month basis, employment data…
The share of adults planning a home purchase in the next 12 months dropped to 13% in the final quarter of 2022, down from 15% in the previous quarter. The drop is not surprising, given that housing affordability worsened during this period, as mortgage interest rates surpassed 7.0% and reached levels not seen in nearly…
As elevated mortgage rates and tight inventory continue to weaken housing demand, the volume of existing home sales declined for an eleventh consecutive month as of December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the longest run of declines since 1999. While mortgage rates have retreated in recent weeks due to recession…
Led by a decline in multifamily production, overall housing starts decreased 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.38 million units in December, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Also of note, single-family housing starts ended the year down more than 10%, marking…
