Eye On Housing
For single-family homes started in 2014, median prices, excluding improved lot values, range from $159 per square foot for contractor-built homes in the Pacific and New England divisions to $80 per square foot for speculatively-built homes in the East South Central division. The most expensive new single-family homes in 2014 were contractor-built homes in the Pacific and New England divisions with the… Read More ›
If one wanted to understand the characteristics of the housing stock in the US, including its size, composition, physical conditions, home improvements, characteristics of recent movers, and housing costs, the American Housing Survey (AHS) would be the place to go. The AHS is conducted every other year by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban… Read More ›
If one wanted to understand the characteristics of the housing stock in the US, including its size, composition, physical conditions, home improvements, characteristics of recent movers, and housing costs, the American Housing Survey (AHS) would be the place to go. The AHS is conducted every other year by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban… Read More ›
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and NAHB analysis, vinyl (including vinyl-covered aluminum) was the most common exterior wall material used in homes started in 2014 (29 percent), followed by stucco and brick or brick veneer (23 percent each), and fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) (18 percent). The principal exterior wall material… Read More ›
Much like it counts people every 10 years, the US government counts American businesses every 5 years. This is done through the Economic Census, which is conducted by the Census Bureau in years ending in 2 and 7. Results for the residential construction industry for 2012 were recently released, officially confirming what we already knew: a significant number of builders… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that the market share of new single-family homes built on slabs has been generally increasing, whereas homes with basements or crawl spaces have been on the decline since the year 2000. 56% of all new single-family started in 2014 were built on slab foundations, 28% had a full/partial basement, and 15%… Read More ›
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 ›