House prices posted modest annual growth for the third quarter of 2024, as elevated mortgage rates kept many potential home buyers away from the housing market. Nonetheless, housing inventory has improved in recent months. Nationally, house price appreciation has decelerated for two straight quarters. According to the quarterly all-transactions House Price Index (HPI) released by…
The residential construction industry plays a crucial role in driving economic growth and local community development. It has a lasting impact on local communities by creating jobs, improving infrastructure, boosting local businesses, and enhancing property values. The residential construction industry is more reliant on labor than capital in the United States. As of October 2024,…
Wages for residential building workers grew at a fast pace of 9.9% in September, following a 10.8% gain in August. These year-over-year growth rates in the past four months were unprecedented in the history of the data series since 1990. After a 0.3% increase in June 2023, the YOY growth rate for residential building worker…
Job growth decelerated significantly in October, driven by the effects of strikes and hurricanes. As stated in this month’s job report, October data are “the first collected since Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck the United States”. Despite lower monthly job gains, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, indicating the labor market remains solid. In…
The U.S. economy grew at a solid pace in the third quarter of 2023, boosted by strong consumer spending and government spending. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 2.8% in the third quarter of 2024, following a…
With elevated interest rates and rising home prices, 103.5 million households in the United States cannot afford a $495,750 median-priced new home. The growing affordability crisis makes housing a top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election. Both presidential candidates have offered housing policy proposals to address our nation’s housing supply and affordability challenges….
Home buyers moved off the sidelines in September following the Federal Reserve’s recent move to cut interest rates for the first time in four years. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in September increased 4.1% to a 738,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised August number, according to newly released data from the…
