Further downshifting its pace of tightening of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points, increasing that target to an upper bound of 4.75%. This marked a smaller increase after four previous 75 basis point...
The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy increased in December, rising to 11 million, the highest level since July. This was a surprise rise, as noted by many analysts, particularly given a growing chorus of corporate hiring freezes and job cuts. For...
Private residential construction spending declined 0.3% in December 2022, as spending on single-family construction dropped 2.3% amid higher mortgage rates. Private residential construction spending fell for the seventh consecutive month, standing at an annual pace of $857 billion. However, this total remains 1.7% higher compared...
An earlier post revealed that 65% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the fourth quarter of 2022 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. The inability to find an affordable home (45%) is the...
The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS) reported the U.S. homeownership rate at 65.9% in the last quarter of 2022, which is statistically unchanged from the fourth quarter reading (66%). It is 0.4 percentage points higher than the rate in the fourth quarter of 2021....
Dwindling housing affordability in the fourth quarter of 2022 caused the share of prospective home buyers who are actively engaged in the purchase process (i.e. who have moved beyond just the planning phase) to drop to 46%, down from 59% a quarter earlier. The share...
Buyers’ outlook for housing affordability took a sharp negative turn in the final quarter of 2022, when a record high of 87% reported being able to afford fewer than 50% of the homes for-sale in their markets. The remaining 13% can afford the majority of...
NAHB’s analysis of headship rates from the latest 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) reveals that the Covid-19 pandemic unlocked some pent-up housing demand, especially among young adults ages 25 to 34. The pandemic-heightened desire for more spacious and independent living, as well as “excess” savings...
The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income increased 0.2% in December. The pace of personal income growth slowed after reaching a 0.8% monthly gain in October. Gains in personal income are largely driven by increases in...
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%,...
While new home sales posted a modest gain in December, elevated mortgage rates and higher construction costs continue to hinder housing affordability and put a damper on consumer demand. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated sales of...
The U.S. economy continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2022. As consumer spending and private inventory investment helped increase GDP, residential fixed investment dragged down the contribution to percent change in real GDP by 1.29 percentage points. More importantly, the data from the...
Housing’s share of the economy edged lower at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. This is the second straight quarter where GDP increased in 2022, with overall GDP increasing at a 2.9% annual rate, following a 3.2% increase in the third quarter and...
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...
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia in December compared to the previous month, while 18 states lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in December, following a gain of...
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...
As elevated mortgage rates and tight inventory continue to weaken housing demand, the volume of existing home sales declined for an eleventh consecutive month as of December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the longest run of declines since 1999. While...
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...
