Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Multifamily Construction Continues to Expand Outside Metro Core Areas
The most recent Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) shows that multifamily home building has continued to experience strong growth since the start of the pandemic. Due to the low single-family housing inventory and elevated unaffordability of single-family housing caused by high house prices and higher mortgage rates, demand for multifamily housing has remained solid over the past year. Except for… Read More ›
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Mortgage Activity Increases as Rates Fall
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending December 9th, total mortgage activity increased 3.2% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose one basis points to 6.42%. The FRM rate has fallen 48 basis points over the past month. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, rose… Read More ›
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Households’ Real Estate Asset Growth Continues to Slow in Q3
The most recent release of the Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States shows a sharp slowdown in the quarter-over-quarter growth of households’ real estate assets. After six consecutive quarters of above 3 percent growth quarter-over-quarter, the third quarter of 2022 saw a 1.74% increase in households’ real estate asset value. The level of households’ real estate assets increased by… Read More ›
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Share of Bedrooms in New Homes in 2021
The Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Construction (SOC) shows modest changes in the share of number of bedrooms for new single-family homes in 2021 compared with the previous year. The current estimates indicate the share of new single-family homes with 2 bedrooms or less is 9.2%, 3 bedrooms, the largest share, had a share of 44.5%, 4 bedrooms make up… Read More ›
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Apartment Absorption Rate Reaches 25-year High
Data from the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Market Absorptions of New Multifamily Units (SOMA) indicates that the multifamily market remained strong during the second quarter of 2022 due to high demand. With low single-family housing supply and increased unaffordability of for-sale housing, many would-be buyers have turned to or remained in the multifamily rental market. The absorption rate of… Read More ›
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Mortgage Activity Remains Low Due to Market Uncertainty
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending November 4th, total mortgage activity declined 0.1% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose eight basis points to 7.14%. The FRM rate has risen 33 basis points over the past month and has been above 7% for the past three weeks. The Market… Read More ›
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Number of Bathrooms in New Homes in 2021
The Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Construction (SOC) shows slight changes in the number of full and half bathrooms for new single-family homes started in 2021 compared to 2020. The current data shows that 3.1% of new single-family homes started had one full bathroom or less, 62.6% had 2 full bathrooms, 27.0% had 3 full bathrooms and 7.3% had 4… Read More ›
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Housing Share of GDP Continues to Decrease
Housing’s share of the economy edged lower at the end of the third quarter of 2022. This is the first quarter where GDP increased for 2022, with overall GDP increasing at a 2.6% annual rate, following a 0.6% decrease in the second quarter and 1.6% decrease in the first quarter. However, due to higher interest rates, housing’s share of GDP… Read More ›
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Mortgage Activity Continues to Fall as Rates Rise
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending October 7th, total mortgage activity declined 2.0% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose six basis points to 6.81%. The FRM has risen 80 basis points over the past month, reaching its highest level since 2006. The Market Composite Index, a measure of… Read More ›