Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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New Homes Started With 4 or More Bedrooms Trends Lower
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction’s (SOC) estimate of the number of bedrooms in new single-family homes has shown a declining trend for homes with 4 bedrooms or more since 2015. The most recent SOC data show the number of bedrooms of new homes whose construction began in 2018 (new homes started). Nationally, the number of single-family homes started… Read More ›
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Consumer Credit Continues to Expand
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows rising trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through November 2019. In November, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.6 percent from the previous month, with revolving debt1 decreasing by 2.7 percent and non-revolving debt2 increasing by 5.8 percent. Consumer credit totaled $4.2 trillion… Read More ›
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Mortgage Purchase Activity Rises
The latest tally of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Application Survey shows a slight decline in the market composite index, consisting of both purchase and refinancing loan activity, of 1.5% from two weeks earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending January 3, 2020. The purchase index rose by 5%, while the refinance index fell by 8%,… Read More ›
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Number of Bathrooms in New Homes
The Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Construction (SOC) shows changes in the number and shares of bathrooms and half-bathrooms of single-family homes started in the United States in 2018. The latest year’s data show that 3% of new single-family homes started had one bathroom or less, 64% had 2 bathrooms, 26% had 3 bathrooms, and 8% had 4 bathrooms or… Read More ›
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Household Balance Sheets: 3Q19
The third quarter 2019 Financial Accounts of the United States, the Federal Reserve’s flow of funds data, show the aggregate values of households’ assets and liabilities in the nation. Households’ real estate assets totaled $29.2 trillion and liabilities totaled $10.5 trillion, making homeowners’ equity $18.7 trillion or 64% of total household real estate. The data show a continuation of the… Read More ›
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Revolving Debt Expands in October
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows rising trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through October 2019. In October, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 percent from the previous month, with revolving debt1 increasing by 8.8 percent and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 4.3 percent. Consumer credit totaled $4.2 trillion… Read More ›
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Millennial Housing Demand and Regional Building Trends: 3Q19 HBGI
Supply and resulting affordability challenges for millennials were highlighted in the most recent NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). The third quarter HBGI also offers more region-specific insights of single- and multifamily home building trends, including their connections to millennial-intensive areas. Single-family home building in rural areas posted a solid growth rate of 1.1% for the third quarter of 2019,… Read More ›
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Mortgage Application Volume Declines
In the latest tally of mortgage activity, for the week ending November 29, 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Application Survey showed a 7.5% drop from the previous week in conventional mortgage activity, which includes both purchases and refinances, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Overall, the market composite index, which includes conventional mortgages, saw a 9.2% increase on a seasonally… Read More ›
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Millennial Areas Front and Center to Housing Affordability Challenges
The third cut of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) defines “Millennial counties” as those having at least a 26% share of total population belonging to the Millennial generation (born between 1981-1997). The top 25% of counties with a high millennial concentration represent 62% of the U.S. population. These counties also constitute 59% and 80% of single-family and multifamily construction,… Read More ›
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Multifamily Six-Year Streak of Gains Ended in 2018
For only the second year since the Great Recession, multifamily unit completions declined in 2018, according to NAHB analysis of the latest annual multifamily data from the Survey of Construction (SOC). As is typical, the number of multifamily units completed for rent exceeds the number of units completed for sale (92% rental share). In 2018, the number of units completed… Read More ›