Eye On Housing
The average length of time to complete construction of a multifamily building, after obtaining authorization, was 11.7 months according to the 2014 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau. The permit-to-completion time increased by approximately one month from 2013 to 2014, as per unit median square footage and the share of multifamily buildings with 20+ units rose. The average… Read More ›
Firming home prices in many housing markets resulted in a modest drop in nationwide housing affordability in the second quarter of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 63.2 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end of June were affordable to families earning the… Read More ›
The NAHB Multifamily Production Index (MPI) held steady with a reading of 54 for the first quarter of 2015. This is the 13th consecutive quarter with a reading of 50 or above. The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about current conditions in the apartment and condominium market on a scale of 0 to 100. The index and all of its… Read More ›
As of now, the Census Bureau is estimating that 647,000 single-family homes were started in 2014 (the December numbers will get one more revision before they’re final). A question that has always interested NAHB is how many of these starts are teardowns—homes built on site where a previous structure had to be torn down first. Trying to get information like… Read More ›
Absorption completions continued to rise during the third quarter of 2014. While for-rent apartment absorption rates remained strong at the end of 2014, there was a drop in short-term absorptions for the condominium and co-op market. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent data from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development Survey of Market Absorption… Read More ›
A new NAHB study presents the most comprehensive estimates of home building employment, including self-employed workers, by state and congressional district. NAHB Economics estimates that out of 8.9 million people working in construction in 2013, close to 3.5 million people worked in residential construction, accounting for 2.4 percent of the US employed civilian labor force. These numbers reflect modest job… Read More ›
Slightly lower interest rates and home prices in markets across the country contributed to a slight increase in nationwide housing affordability in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 62.8 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of October and end of December were… Read More ›
New NAHB research shows that while foreign-born workers represent a substantial component of the US construction labor force, accounting for almost 23 percent, their share is even higher in construction trades, reaching 28 percent. Concentration of immigrants is particularly high in some of the trades needed to build a home, like carpenters, painters, drywall/ceiling tile installers, brick masons, and construction… Read More ›
New NAHB research estimates the immigrant labor flow into the construction industry over the housing boom and bust years. The results show that more than 135,000 immigrant workers entered the US construction industry at the height of the housing boom in 2005. By 2011, the construction immigrant flow plummeted to a low of 23,000, highlighting the role of new immigrant… Read More ›
With the end of 2014, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. Last January, we published data on single-family home construction costs. —————————– By Heather Taylor NAHB recently published the latest construction cost survey. The survey shows that the average home was built on 14,359 square feet of land, had 2,607 square feet of… Read More ›