Despite interest rate hikes, job growth remained solid in June. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000 and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6% in June. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.7 million and has exceeded its February 2020 level. In June,...
The average length of time to complete construction of a multifamily building, after obtaining authorization, is 17.5 months, according to the 2021 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau. The authorization-to-completion time in 2021 inched up from 2020, decelerating the upward trend since 2013....
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending July 1, total mortgage activity decreased, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate reaching 5.8% on average. The latest week’s rate decreased to 5.74%, declining for the second straight week but still above pandemic...
The construction labor market remains tight, but the total number of open construction sector jobs has likely reached a cyclical peak as economic activity slows in response to tighter financial conditions. The count of open construction jobs was little changed in May, falling from 440,000...
The earlier June post highlighted the rising number and share of Hispanics in the construction industry. Hispanics now account for almost a third of the construction workforce, according to the 2021 Current Population Survey. In this post, we focus on the regional and state-level differences...
NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly state and local tax data shows that $672.9 billion in taxes were paid by property owners in the four quarters ending Q1 2022 (not seasonally adjusted), a 0.1% quarterly increase.[1] State and local governments collected $1.9 trillion over...
NAHB analysis of the Census Construction Spending data shows that private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $938.2 billion in May. It was 0.2% up over the upwardly revised April estimates of $935.9 billion. On a year-over-year basis, total...
Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased in 46 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 2022. New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Michigan saw modest GDP growth. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the percent change in real GDP...
The top 10 builders captured 34.2% of new single-family home closings in 2021, the highest percentage on record based on data released by BUILDER Magazine. This share represents 264,426 closings out of the 774,000 new single-family home sales reported by the U.S. Census in 2021....
Consumer confidence dropped again in June as inflation stayed at decades high and continued to temper consumers’ economic outlook, which tumbled to the lowest level in nearly a decade. Though spending intentions for homes, cars, and major appliances held relatively steady, consumer spending will continue...
Recently, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) undertook a joint research effort to find out how much government regulation adds to the cost of building new multifamily housing via a survey distributed to multifamily developers. The research...
After posting four consecutive monthly declines on rising mortgage rates and worsening affordability conditions, new home sales posted a solid gain in May as some buyers rushed into the market in advance of the Federal Reserve’s June interest rate hike. Sales of newly built, single-family...
Hispanics are an important source of labor in the U.S. construction industry, where skilled labor shortage is a long-term issue. One in three workers in the US construction industry is Hispanic. The latest labor force statistics from the 2021 Current Population Survey show that Non-Hispanic...
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia in May compared to the previous month while 18 states lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 390,000 in May, following a gain of...
As rising mortgage rates and higher home prices continued to price out homebuyers, existing home sales declined for four consecutive months, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, the trend in home price appreciation continued as supply remained tight. The median existing home...
In the first quarter of 2022, multifamily home building showed greater growth across all regional markets compared to the first quarter of 2021, per the NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). Apartment construction far outpaced single-family building in all regional geographies but especially in lower...
Single-family starts declined further in May, as higher interest rates weighed on housing affordability. This follows a sixth straight monthly decline for the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI. Additionally, the cost and availability of materials, lumber, labor and lots remain key supply-side headwinds. Single-family permits decreased 5.5%...
To fight persistent inflation, the Federal Reserve has committed to significantly cooling demand. This approach reflects a non-monetary policy failure to fix underlying supply-side challenges that are pushing up inflation. The Fed lacks policy tools to make these supply-side fixes, so it must rely on...
