The U.S. economy grew at a solid pace in the third quarter of 2023, boosted by strong consumer spending and government spending. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate...
The homeownership rate for those under the age of 35 dropped to 37% in the third quarter of 2024, reaching the lowest level since the third quarter of 2019, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). Amidst elevated mortgage interest rates and tight housing...
After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of residential construction, the count of open construction sector jobs trended lower in the September data, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The data indicates the demand...
With elevated interest rates and rising home prices, 103.5 million households in the United States cannot afford a $495,750 median-priced new home. The growing affordability crisis makes housing a top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election. Both presidential candidates have offered housing policy...
As of 2023, nearly 40% of homeowners in the United States are mortgage-free, the highest level seen in the past 13 years. With elections approaching, it is valuable to analyze the share of mortgage-free homeowners across congressional districts, as these patterns often provide insights into...
All-cash purchases accounted for 7.9% of new home sales in the third quarter of 2024, marking the highest level this year but lowest level for the third quarter since 2022, according to NAHB analysis of the latest Census Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing...
With housing affordability at a multidecade low, housing costs have become a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. While NAHB reports the national homeownership rate from the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey on a quarterly basis, examining characteristics across congressional districts provides valuable insights....
Home buyers moved off the sidelines in September following the Federal Reserve’s recent move to cut interest rates for the first time in four years. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in September increased 4.1% to a 738,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly...
In 2023, the total number of second homes was 5.7 million, accounting for 4% of the total housing stock, according to NAHB estimates of the 2023 American Community Survey. Second homes have been in a steady decline over the past few years, from 7.15 million...
Despite recent easing mortgage rates and improved inventory, existing home sales fell to a 14-year low in September as elevated home prices are causing potential buyers to hold out for lower rates, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales remained sluggish as the...
While the lack of affordable housing dominates the headlines across the nation, congressional districts with higher shares of renter households are disproportionately affected by the current affordability crisis. Geographically, the districts with the largest housing cost burdens are heavily concentrated in California, Florida, and the...
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia in September compared to the previous month, while eight states saw a decrease. Nevada reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 254,000 in...
Nationally, nearly 140 million people in the United States routinely commuted to work, according to NAHB analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey data. Among these people, approximately 23.8 million people spent more than 90 minutes each day going to and from their place of...
Homeownership is an important voter issue for the upcoming election with both presidential candidates putting forth housing policies to tackle the housing affordability crisis. In a recent NAHB post, the national homeownership rate sat at 65%, but there are large disparities in homeownership when broken...
Nearly 1.3 million tax returns filed for tax year 2023 utilized the Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D tax credit), according to the latest IRS clean energy tax credit statistics. Through May 23rd of the 2024 tax filing season for 2023 returns, almost 138 million tax...
With the Federal Reserve beginning an easing of monetary policy and builder sentiment improving, single-family starts posted a modest gain in September while multifamily construction continued to weaken because of tight financing and an ongoing rise in completed apartments. Overall housing starts decreased 0.5% in...
With inflation gradually easing and builders anticipating mortgage rates will moderate in coming months, builder sentiment moved higher for a second consecutive month despite challenging affordability conditions. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 43 in October, up two points from...
During the second quarter of 2024, the volume of total outstanding acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans posted the largest year-over-year percentage decline since 2012, as interest rates remain elevated before the beginning of the Fed cutting short-term interest rates in September. AD&C loan conditions...
