Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Construction Loans End 2020 Lower
Continuing a period of volume decline that began at the end of 2019, the volume of residential construction lending posted a slight decline during the fourth quarter of 2020. Overall residential construction loan volume ended the year lower due to accelerated sales growth, which reduced outstand loans at a faster clip, and higher interest rates for AD&C financing. The volume… Read More ›
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Flat Conditions for Custom Home Building
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building ended the year 2020 flat due second quarter weakness. There were 44,000 total custom building starts during the fourth quarter of the year, equal to the fourth quarter 2019 total. Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 176,000, roughly unchanged… Read More ›
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Rebound for Townhouse Construction
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction expanded to a 2.5 year high during the final quarter of 2020. As housing demand has shifted to more suburban and exurban areas and housing affordability headwinds persist, medium-density construction initially lagged. However, a strong final quarter led to roughly flat… Read More ›
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Growth Ahead for New Single-Family Home Size?
An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more space, as people use their homes for more purposes. And while this measure has not increased significantly yet, new home size did level off in 2020 after years of decline. According to fourth quarter 2020 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and… Read More ›
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Gains for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction
The number of single-family homes built-for-rent (SFBFR) construction starts posted a year-over-year increase for the fourth quarter of 2020. The SFBFR market is a way to add single-family inventory amid concerns over housing affordability and downpayment requirements in the for-sale market, particularly during a period when people want more space and a single-family structure. Single-family built-for-rent construction does differ with… Read More ›
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Construction Headwinds Pick Up in January
Housing production softened in January as rising lumber prices continue to affect the housing industry. Overall housing starts decreased 6% percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.58 million units, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The January reading of 1.58 million starts is the number of housing… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence: High Demand Offsets Higher Costs – For Now
Strong buyer demand helped offset supply chain challenges and a surge in lumber prices as builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched up one point to 84 in February, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Lumber prices have been steadily rising this year and hit a record high in mid-February, adding thousands… Read More ›
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Construction Job Openings End 2020 Lower
Job openings in construction declined in December as hiring slowed, albeit with distinctions between residential and nonresidential construction. As detailed in the January employment report, there were 2,500 lost total construction sector jobs for the start of the year. Nonetheless, for home building and remodeling, sector employment is 27,600 positions higher than a year prior. Overall, hiring in the construction… Read More ›
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Gains for Housing Share of GDP
Housing has staged a dramatic turnaround since the Spring of 2020. Due to low mortgage interest rates, a renewed focus on the importance of home, an evolving geography of housing demand, and a lack of for-sale inventory, the housing sector has been a relative bright spot for the economy. For the fourth quarter, overall GDP growth continued a recovery at a… Read More ›
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Steady New Home Sales at End of 2020
After a surge in the pace of new home sales in the middle of the year, the monthly growth rate of newly built single-family home sales slowed at the end of 2020. Sales exceeded construction starts by a historic margin at the end of the summer. This necessitated an increase in starts and some slowing of sales. Nonetheless, the acceleration… Read More ›