A limited amount of existing inventory along with solid demand helped new home sales end the year on an up note, even as buyers continue to grapple with housing affordability challenges. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in December increased 3.6% to a 698,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from an upwardly revised November number, according…
Despite higher mortgage rates and elevated home prices, existing home sales jumped to a 10-month high in December, marking three monthly gains in annual growth, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, existing home sales end 2024 at 4.06 million, the lowest level since 1995 as the median price reached a record high…
Construction costs account for 64.4% of the average price of a home, according to NAHB’s most recent Cost of Construction Survey. In 2022, the share was 3.6 points lower, at 60.8%. The latest finding marks a record high for construction costs since the inception of the series in 1998 and the fifth instance where construction…
Real GDP of metropolitan areas rose 2.7% in 2023, with the “real estate, rental and leasing” sector contributing 0.34 percentage points and construction contracting growth by 0.11 percentage points. While many metro areas followed the national growth trend, each region has its unique economic narrative. This article explores the economic trends driving these outcomes, focusing…
A key indicator of the labor market is the labor force participation rate. This rate is the percentage of working-age adults in a population who are working or looking for work. The rate is a critical measure connected to both housing demand and housing supply (via the construction labor force). According to the Employment Situation…
The worst on record rental affordability conditions, depleted “excess” savings of the pandemic era, and high mortgage rates halted the post-pandemic trend of young adults moving out of parental homes. The share of adults ages 25-34 living with parents or parents-in-law hovered just above 19% in 2023, stagnant from 2022, according to NAHB’s analysis of…
Fueled by solid demand, single-family construction moved higher in December despite several headwinds facing the industry, including high mortgage rates, elevated financing costs for builders and a lack of buildable lots. Overall housing starts increased 15.8% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.50 million units, according to a report from the U.S….
