Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Examining Rental Housing in the US
Using the 2018 Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS) published by the US Census Bureau, this post examines the characteristics of rental housing in the United States. The RHFS provides measures of financial, mortgage, and property characteristics of rental properties in the US on a current and continuous basis.[1] General Characteristics The 2018 RHFS survey shows that there are 19,955,000 rental… Read More ›
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Multifamily Production Index Inches Up, But Still Remains in Negative Territory
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing increased in the second quarter but still remains in negative territory, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) rose 10 points to 37, but is still below its break even point of 50, which indicates that more builders and developers view conditions as weaker than… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence in the 55+ Housing Market Rebounds in Second Quarter
Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market jumped 27 points to 65 in the second quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (55+HMI). An index reading over 50 indicates more builders view market conditions as good than poor (Figure 1). The 55+ HMI measures two segments of the 55+ housing market: single-family… Read More ›
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Real Rent Index Declined in June
In June, the real rent index fell by approximately 0.1 percent. This is the first decline in the index since 2013 (Figure 1). The annual growth rate of the index fell to negative 1.4 percent, after posting three months of positive growth, at rates between 4 and 8 percent. NAHB constructs a “real” rent index to indicate whether inflation in… Read More ›
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Remodeling Market Shows Optimism despite COVID-19
In the second quarter of 2020, The NAHB Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 73, which indicates more remodelers view conditions as good than poor (Table 1). This is the second quarter with a new RMI, redesigned to ease respondent burden and improve its ability to interpret and track industry trends. See Table 1 for results here. The… Read More ›
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Multifamily Builder and Developer Confidence Falls in First Quarter on COVID-19 Pandemic
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing weakened significantly in the first quarter of 2020, according to results from the National Association of Home Builders’ Multifamily Market Survey (MMS). The MMS consists of two indices: the Multifamily Production Index (MPI), which fell 22 points to 27 (Figure 1), and the Multifamily Vacancy Index (MVI), which rose 19 points to… Read More ›
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Most Home Buyers Want a Home Office
Lock down orders implemented across the US to fight the spread of the coronavirus have given rise to more people working from home and engaging in other activities indoors that they would normally do in public spaces. With the major shift in where people spend their time, it is important to examine the data currently available on home buyers’ preferences… Read More ›
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Minority Homeownership Rate Jumps in First Quarter
Data released by the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancies and Homeownership survey (CPS/HVS) show that the minority homeownership rate increased to 49.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020, up 2.2 percentage points from the first quarter of 2019 (Figure 1). This is the highest it has been since the first quarter of 2010 (49.5 percent). The year-over-year gain in the… Read More ›
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Absorption Rate for Apartments Remained Stable in Q3 2019
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Market Absorption (SOMA) show that the absorption rate of unfurnished, unsubsidized apartments (the share rented out in the first three months following completion) remained essentially flat at 58 percent in the third quarter of 2019 (from 57 percent in the third quarter of 2018) (Figure 1). The number of apartments completed in… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence in the 55+ Housing Market Drops Significantly in First Quarter on Coronavirus Pandemic
Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market sank 30 points to 38 in the first quarter of 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ 55+ Housing Market Index (55+HMI) (Figure 1). This is the lowest reading since the fourth quarter of 2012. The 55+HMI survey produces two indices, one measuring the 55+ single-family market and another for… Read More ›