Falling mortgage rates helped end a four-month decline in builder confidence, and recent economic data signal improving housing conditions heading into 2024. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose three points to 37 in December, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). With mortgage…
After years of being unable to ratchet up the number of new workers coming from outside the U.S. to help with persistent labor shortages, the construction industry reversed this trend and managed to attract over 90,000 new immigrant workers, levels unseen since the housing boom of 2005-2006. Native-born workers remain reluctant and continue joining the…
Over the first ten months of 2023, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 773,526. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is 10.7% below the October 2022 level of 865,815. Year-to-date ending in October, single-family permits declined in all four regions. The range of permit decline spanned 8.6% in the Northeast…
The Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Construction (SOC) shows small changes in the share of number of bedrooms for new single-family homes in 2022 compared with the previous year. The current estimates indicate the share of new single-family homes with two bedrooms or less is 11.0%, three bedrooms, the largest share, had a share of…
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee held the federal funds rate constant at a top target rate of 5.5% at the conclusion of its December meeting. The Fed will continue to reduce its balance sheet holdings of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities as part of quantitative tightening and balance sheet normalization. Marking a third consecutive meeting…
According to the latest Producer Price Index report, the price level of inputs to residential construction less energy (i.e., building materials) increased 0.2% in November after declining 0.4% in October (revised, not seasonally adjusted). The index has increased 0.8% (NSA), year-to-date, marking the smallest YTD gain through November since it fell 0.2% over the first 11…
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending December 8th, total mortgage activity increased 7.4% from the previous week, and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate fell 10 basis points to 7.07%. The FRM rate has decreased by 54 basis points over the past month. The Market Composite Index, a measure…
