Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Refinancing Activity Down 82% Compared to August 2021
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending August 5th, total mortgage activity increased slightly and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose four basis points to 5.47%. The FRM rate has declined 35 bps over the past month but remains roughly 2.5 percentage points higher than it was a year ago. The Market Composite Index,… Read More ›
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Share of New Home Sales Backed by FHA Loans Reaches 14-Year Low
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the four-quarter moving average (MA) share of new home sales financed through FHA was 11.0% in Q2 2022–its smallest share since early 2008. Conventional loans financed 74.8% of new home sales in the second quarter of 2022—a 1.8 percentage point quarter-over-quarter decline…. Read More ›
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Lumber Price Decline, Volatility of All Building Materials Highlight June PPI
The prices of goods used in residential construction climbed 1.5% in June (not seasonally adjusted) even as softwood lumber prices fell 23%, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Prices have surged 41.7% since January 2020. Building materials (i.e., goods inputs to residential construction, less energy) prices have increased 4.8%, year-to-date, and are 12.2% higher than they were… Read More ›
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Property Taxes Make Up More Than One-Third of State and Local Tax Revenue
NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly state and local tax data shows that $672.9 billion in taxes were paid by property owners in the four quarters ending Q1 2022 (not seasonally adjusted), a 0.1% quarterly increase.[1] State and local governments collected $1.9 trillion over the same period, the largest amount on record (nominal and real) and 16.0% more than… Read More ›
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Rapidly Rising Building Materials and Freight Prices Push Construction Costs Higher
The prices of goods used in residential construction climbed 1.8% in May (not seasonally adjusted) and have increased 19.4%, year-over-year, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Prices have surged 40.4% since January 2020. Building materials (i.e., goods inputs to residential construction, less energy) prices have increased 5.4%, year-to-date, and are 36.3% higher than they were in May… Read More ›
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Building Materials Prices Move Higher, Up 19% Year-over-Year
According to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of goods used in residential construction ex-energy (not seasonally adjusted) climbed 0.5% in April, following upwardly revised increases of 1.9% and 2.4% in March and February, respectively. This adds up to an 4.9% increase in building materials prices since the start… Read More ›
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Property Taxes Account for Largest Share of State and Local Revenue in 2021
NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly tax data shows that $672.5 billion in taxes were paid by property owners in the four quarters ending Q4 2021 (not seasonally adjusted), a 1.0% quarterly increase.[1] Four-quarter property tax revenues declined 0.6% in Q3 2021, the second such decrease since 2012. Property taxes accounted for 36.2% of state and local tax receipts, a 0.8… Read More ›
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Building Materials Prices Increase Slightly, Held in Check by Metal, Gypsum, and Concrete Products
The prices of goods used in residential construction ex-energy climbed 1.6% in February (not seasonally adjusted), according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials prices increased 20.4%, year-over-year, and have risen 31.3% since January 2020. Over the past five months, the index has climbed 10.6%. The price index of services inputs to residential… Read More ›
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Led by Lumber and Paint, Building Materials Prices Jump in January
The prices of goods used in residential construction ex-energy climbed 3.6% in January (not seasonally adjusted), according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index was led higher by a 25.4% jump in softwood lumber prices and 9.0% price increases for indoor and outdoor paint. Building materials prices increased 20.3%, year-over-year, and have… Read More ›
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Lumber Prices in 2020 and 2021 Set Record Highs Even When Adjusted for Inflation
Most analyses of lumber price trends and levels fail to account for inflation because the price data for softwood lumber used in framing applications is generally quoted using the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price or lumber futures prices–neither of which is inflation-adjusted. Adjusting for inflation shows that, although the historical price differences are smaller in real terms than nominal,… Read More ›