Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Construction Job Openings Peaked for Cycle?
The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy declined in October, falling from 10.7 million open positions to 10.3 million. This represents a small decrease from a year ago (11.1 million), a sign the labor market is slowing in response to tighter monetary policy. The degree of this slowing will be critical for a potential downshift in the… Read More ›
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Small Increase for Missing Middle Multifamily
The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, including townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. While townhouse construction has trended higher in recent quarters, the multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2 to 4 unit properties) has disappointed. For 2021, there were only 12,000 starts of such residences. This is flat from from 2020, during a period of time… Read More ›
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97% Built-for-Rent Multifamily Construction Share
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts remained elevated during the third quarter of 2022. At 141,000 units started, this was the largest quarter for rental multifamily construction since the second quarter of 1986. The market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts increased to 97% as the already small condo… Read More ›
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New Single-Family Home Size Trending Lower
An expected impact of the virus crisis was a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. During the housing boom after covid, this led to a rise for new single-family home size. However, as the housing market weakens on lower affordability conditions this trend appears to be reversing. According to third quarter 2022… Read More ›
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Gain 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 expanded during the third quarter of 2022 despite broader market weakness. There were 59,000 total custom building starts during the third quarter of the year. This marks a 5% increase compared to the third quarter of 2021 in terms of year-over-year change…. Read More ›
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Townhouse Construction Market Share Rising
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the third quarter of 2022 single-family attached starts totaled 38,000, which is 12% higher than the third quarter of 2021. Over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 152,000 units, 7% higher than the prior four quarter total (142,000). However, these… Read More ›
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Flat Readings for Single-Family Built-for-Rent
Single-family built-for-rent construction leveled off during the third quarter of 2022 as the overall housing market slowed. This occurred after an exceptionally strong second quarter for rental housing production. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 16,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the third quarter of 2022…. Read More ›
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Single-Family Housing Contraction Continues in October
Elevated mortgage rates, high construction costs for concrete and other building materials, and weakening demand stemming from deteriorating affordability conditions continue to act as a drag on single-family housing production. Overall housing starts decreased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units in October, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and… Read More ›
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Builder Confidence Declines for 11 Consecutive Months as Housing Weakness Continues
Elevated interest rates, stubbornly high building material costs and declining affordability conditions that are pushing more buyers to the sidelines continue to drag down builder sentiment. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its 11th straight monthly decline in November, dropping five points to 33, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing… Read More ›
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An End to Large Rate Hikes from the Fed?
Continuing its tightening of financial conditions to bring the rate of inflation lower, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 75 basis points, increasing that target to an upper bound of 4%. This marks the fourth consecutive meeting with an increase of 75 basis points and pushes the fed funds rate to a 15-year… Read More ›