Housing’s share of the economy moved lower at the end of the first quarter of 2023. Overall GDP increased at a 1.1% annual rate, following a 2.6% increase in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 3.2% increase in the third quarter of 2022. Despite overall GDP increasing, housing’s share of GDP decreased to 15.8%, below…
Single-family production showed signs of a gradual upturn in March as stabilizing mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to offset stubbornly high construction costs, building labor shortages and tightening credit conditions. This is reflected in the slight uptick in builder sentiment in April. Overall housing starts in March decreased 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual…
Single-family production remained at an anemic pace in February as builders continue to wrestle with elevated mortgage rates, high construction costs and tightening credit conditions that threaten to be exacerbated by recent turmoil in the banking system. Led by gains in apartment construction, overall housing starts in February increased 9.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual…
The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as 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…
Job growth rebounded in January. After a declining yet positive pace for five consecutive months, total nonfarm payroll employment growth accelerated and increased by 517,000 in the first month of 2023 and the unemployment rate hit a 53-year low at 3.4% as more people entered the labor market. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential)…
Led by a decline in multifamily production, overall housing starts decreased 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.38 million units in December, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Also of note, single-family housing starts ended the year down more than 10%, marking…
