Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Basements Continue to Fall Out of Favor
NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that 60.1% of all new single-family started in 2018 were built on slab foundations, followed by 24.3% with a full/partial basement, and 14.3% with a crawl space. The gap between slab and full/partial basement foundation adoption rates is growing: the share of new homes built on slabs steadily increased from 46.0%… Read More ›
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Private Residential Spending Rises in September
NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $511.4 billion in September, the highest level since December 2018. It inched up 0.6% in September, after increasing 0.8% in August and 1% in July. Private residential construction spending rebounded in the third quarter after decreasing for… Read More ›
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Personal Income Edges up in September
The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income rose slightly by 0.3% on a month-over-month basis in September after a 0.5% increase in August. The 0.3% gains in personal income, which is at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $50.2 billion, were largely limited to personal interest income, farm proprietors’ income,… Read More ›
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Homeownership Rate Bounces Back
According to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), the U.S. homeownership rate increased to 64.8% in the third quarter of 2019, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than the previous quarter reading of 64.1%. This puts the national homeownership rate back to a level near where it started dropping as interest rates increased. The rate reached a cycle low… Read More ›
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Time to Build a Single-Family Home in 2018
The 2018 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 7.7 months, which in general includes almost a month from authorization to start and another 6.7 months to finish the construction. The time from authorization to completion varies across the nation and depends on the geographic location, metropolitan… Read More ›
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Apartment Construction Took Longer in 2018
The average length of time to complete construction of a multifamily building, after obtaining authorization, is 16.2 months, according to the 2018 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau. The authorization-to-completion time has been on an upward trend since 2013. The average time to build multifamily homes varies with the number of units in the building. In 2018,… Read More ›
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Age Distribution of the Construction Labor Force
The latest labor force statistics from the 2018 Current Population Survey show that the construction industry continues to struggle to attract younger workers. While workers under the age of 25 comprised 12.3% of the US labor force, their share in the construction industry reached only 9% in 2018. Meanwhile, the share of older construction workers ages 55+ increased from less… Read More ›
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Women in Construction: Employment Reaches Pre-Recession Levels
The number of women employed in the construction industry grew substantially in 2018 rising to 1.1 million, a total reached prior to the Great Recession. As the construction skilled labor shortage remains a key challenge, adding new workers is an important goal of the industry. Bringing additional women into the construction labor force could represent a potential opportunity for the… Read More ›
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Private Residential Construction Spending Declines in June
NAHB analysis of the most recent Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $507.2 billion in June. It was down 0.5% after being virtually flat in May and rising 0.9% in April. On a year-on-year basis, total private construction spending was down 8.1%. The monthly declines are… Read More ›
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Personal Income Rises in June
The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income rose 0.4% in June, an increase of the same margin for the fourth consecutive month. Gains in personal income are largely driven by increases in compensation of employees. Year over year, personal income increased by 3.3%. Real disposable income, income remaining after adjusting for… Read More ›