Eye On Housing
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Rose Quint is Assistant Vice President for Survey Research. Ms. Quint holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics/International Business from Old Dominion University as well as a Master’s degree in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her responsibilities include planning and conducting industry surveys, specifically in the areas of builder sentiment, remodeling, housing affordability, and AD&C financing issues. Ms. Quint is also responsible for special research projects, such as studies on builders’ profitability, consumer preferences, construction costs, and membership census. She joined NAHB in 1999.
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Buyers Expect Less Housing Availability
After a brief respite earlier in 2022, buyers’ expectations of housing availability soured again at the end of the year. In the final quarter of 2022, the share of buyers who expect the home search to get easier in the months ahead dropped to 24%, down from 37% in the third quarter. In contrast, 66% expect the search to get… Read More ›
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Popularity of New Homes Declines in Final Quarter of 2022
Interest for new home construction weakened in the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by high mortgage rates and elevated new home prices. The latest Housing Trends Report (HTR) shows that the share of prospective buyers looking to buy new construction dropped to 20% in the final quarter of 2022, down from 27% a quarter earlier. The latest decline in interest… Read More ›
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Fewer Adults are Planning a Home Purchase
The share of adults planning a home purchase in the next 12 months dropped to 13% in the final quarter of 2022, down from 15% in the previous quarter. The drop is not surprising, given that housing affordability worsened during this period, as mortgage interest rates surpassed 7.0% and reached levels not seen in nearly 20 years. In the third… Read More ›
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Unsurprisingly, Housing Affordability Continues to Fall
Rising mortgage rates, high inflation, ongoing building material supply chain disruptions, and elevated home prices contributed to housing affordability falling – yet again – to its lowest point since the Great Recession in the third quarter of 2022. According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), just 42.2% of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July… Read More ›
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Bidding Wars Jump as Top Reason (Remaining) Buyers Can’t Make Purchase
An earlier post revealed that a record 70% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the third quarter of 2022 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. Those buyers also have higher incomes and education levels than in previous quarters. The most common reason these long-term searchers cite for not… Read More ›
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More Prospective Buyers Are Actively Searching for a Home
Higher interest rates are pricing out some (not all) buyers, but also transforming remaining prospects into active buyers. In the third quarter of 2022, 59% of prospective buyers had moved beyond the planning phase and become fully engaged in the buying process, up from 46% in the first quarter and 49% in the second quarter of the year. The share… Read More ›
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Affordability Expectations Improve as the Typical Buyer Changes
Prospective buyers in the third quarter of 2022 are more likely to have higher levels of income and education than earlier in the year. This helps explain why affordability expectations have improved. In the third quarter of 2022, 69% of buyers could only afford a minority of homes for sale in their markets, a much lower share than in the… Read More ›
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Buyers’ Expectations of Housing Availability Continue to Improve
For the second straight quarter, more prospective buyers expect housing availability to improve. In the third quarter of 2022, 37% of buyers expect the home search to get easier in the months ahead, up from 17% and 22% in the first and second quarters of the year, respectively. More for-sale inventory and less competition from buyers priced-out by higher mortgage… Read More ›
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More Buyers Taking a Look at New Construction
After bottoming out at 19% in the first quarter of 2022, the popularity of new homes continues to rebound, as the share of buyers looking for new construction rose to 21% and 27% in the second and third quarters of the year, respectively. A possible factor behind this trend is that the inventory of new homes for-sale is 25% higher… Read More ›
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Prospect of Higher Rates Leads Some to Consider Buying a Home
The share of adults planning a home purchase within a year rose to 15% in the third quarter of 2022, up from 13% in the first half of the year. The marginal increase suggests that the prospect of higher mortgage rates in the near term may be leading a small segment of consumers to consider the purchase of a home… Read More ›