Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Top Posts of 2022: Concrete Prices, Volatility Continue Torrid Pace as Lumber Normalizes
With the end of 2022 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In December, David Logan reported the most recent data on building material prices. These monthly building material updates were among the top viewed posts in 2022. The prices of building materials decreased 0.3% in November (not… Read More ›
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Top Posts of 2022: Housing Market at Inflection Point as Builder Confidence Continues to Fall
With the end of 2022 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In April of this year, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI confirmed that the market had turned and was headed lower due to higher interest rates. The HMI registered its fourth monthly decline in April, and as of December… Read More ›
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Top Posts of 2022: Highest Paid Occupations in Construction in 2021
With the end of 2022 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In April, Natalia Siniavskaia reported on wage data for the construction sector. According to the latest May 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and analysis by the National Association of… Read More ›
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Top Posts of 2022: The Nation’s Stock of Second Homes
With the end of 2022 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In May, Na Zhao reported on concerning the size of the second home housing stock. According to NAHB estimates, the total count of second homes was 7.15 million in 2020, accounting for 5.11% of the total… Read More ›
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Top Posts of 2022: Metro Area Populations Exhibit Minimal Growth From 2020
With the end of 2022 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In May, Litic Murali reported on population data in the post-covid environment. The Census Bureau recently released its 2021 Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) annual population estimates. Between 2020 and 2021, 251 (65%) of the 384 MSAs within the… Read More ›
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November New Home Sales Up as Interest Rates Fall Back
While new home sales received a slight bounce in November from moderating mortgage rates, the housing market continues to struggle because of ongoing supply chain disruptions, elevated construction costs, and challenging affordability conditions. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in November increased 5.8% to a 640,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of… Read More ›
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Single-Family Production Continues to Decline, Multifamily Permits Weakening
Single-family housing starts continued to fall in November, with the pace of construction down 32% since February when mortgage rates began to rise. The housing market continues to weaken because stubbornly high construction costs and elevated interest rates are harming housing affordability. And with the count of multifamily units under construction reaching a near 50-year high, multifamily permit growth is… Read More ›
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Reflecting a Weakening Housing Market, Builder Confidence Declined Every Month in 2022
High mortgage rates, elevated construction costs running well above the inflation rate, and flagging consumer demand due to deteriorating affordability conditions have dragged builder sentiment down every month in 2022. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its 12th straight monthly decline in December, dropping two points to 31, according to the National Association of Home… Read More ›
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Downshift for the Fed
Downshifting its pace of tightening of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 50 basis points, increasing that target to an upper bound of 4.5%. This marked a relatively smaller increase after four previous 75 basis point hikes. The Fed has clearly communicated it will continue to tighten monetary policy however, raising… Read More ›
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AD&C Balances Continue to Rise
Residential construction loan volume reached a post-Great Recession high during the third quarter of 2022, as home building activity and new home sales remained weak. Outstanding builder loan balances are rising as development debt is being held longer as new homes remain in inventory longer. Loan balances will decline in coming quarters as the development loan market becomes more costly… Read More ›