Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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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 ›
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Construction Job Market Volatility
The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy increased in September, rising from 10.3 million open positions to 10.71 million. This represents a small increase from a year ago (10.67 million). This increase occurs despite signs of a slowing economy amidst aggressive monetary policy tightening by the Fed. The hotter than expected labor market data pushed the 10-year… Read More ›
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New Home Sales Fall Back in September
Rising mortgage rates approaching 7% along with declining builder sentiment stemming from stubbornly high construction costs and weakening consumer demand pushed new-home sales down at a double-digit rate in September. Following a brief uptick in August, sales of newly built, single-family homes in September fell 10.9% to a 603,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to newly released data by the… Read More ›