Eye On Housing
Recent Posts - page 2
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Existing Home Sales Continue to Rise in January
Fueled by low mortgage interest rates and strong demand, existing home sales, as reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), increased to three-month high in January. But surging house prices and inventory shortages could limit demand and slow the market. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate… 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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Better Credit Conditions & Rates for Builders at End of 2020
While home buyers were benefitting from low mortgage rates at the end of 2020, builders and developers were also experiencing lower interest rates and improved credit conditions, according to NAHB’s survey on financing for Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C). The net tightening index derived from the NAHB survey was -17.0 in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to -3.3 in… Read More ›
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Another 861,000 Jobless Claims Filed
Weekly initial jobless claims increased for the past two consecutive weeks and reached the highest level in one month in the week ending February 13, despite the decreases in the number of COVID-19 cases. The labor market is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the road is proving to be long. The U.S. Department of Labor released the Unemployment Insurance… 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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Lumber Headlines Broad-Based Increases in Building Materials Prices
Prices paid for goods used in residential construction ex-energy rose 2.1% in January (not seasonally adjusted) and have increased 6.8% over the past 12 months, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building materials (i.e., inputs to residential construction less food and energy) prices have declined just twice since December 2019…. 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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Homeownership Remains Primary Driver of Household Wealth
The 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) showed improvements in economic well-being for many across income and wealth distributions over 2016 to 2019. The homeownership rate increased from a low of 63.7% in 2016 to 64.9% in 2019. Moreover, the primary residence continued to be the largest asset on the balance sheets of households in 2019 (Figure 1), accounting for about… Read More ›
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Single-Family Permits End On A Strong Note In 2020
For 2020, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) reached 977,863 nationwide. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 14.5% increase over the December 2019 level of 854,158. Year-to-date ending in December, single-family permits reported increases in all four regions. The South reported the strongest increase by 16.9%, followed by the Midwest (+13.1%), the Northeast (+11.6%), and… Read More ›