Eye On Housing
The NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the second quarter of 2022 posted a reading of 77, declining 10 points from the second quarter of 2021. This is the largest year-over-year decrease since the survey was redesigned in Q1 2020. The RMI is based on a survey that asks remodelers to rate various aspects of the residential remodeling market… Read More ›
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 in April to 434,000. The April reading remains the highest measure in the history of… Read More ›
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 finds that an average of 40.6 percent of total development costs can now be attributed… Read More ›
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 homes in May increased 10.7% to a 696,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from an upwardly… Read More ›
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 436,000 jobs in April. On a month-over-month basis, employment data was strong in Texas, which… Read More ›
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 demand-side impacts to bring down inflation by reducing economic growth. Consequently, at the conclusion of… Read More ›
Rising inflation and higher mortgage rates are slowing traffic of prospective home buyers and putting a damper on builder sentiment. In a troubling sign for the housing market, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its sixth straight monthly decline in June, falling two points to 67, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells… Read More ›
Over the past 12 months, the cost to multifamily developers of compensating their employees increased by an average of nearly 12 percent, according to results from NAHB’s latest Multifamily Market Survey (MMS). The first quarter 2022 MMS, sent electronically to a panel of multifamily developers on April 12, included a special question on how much compensation costs have increased for… Read More ›
As National Home Remodeling Month draws to close, Eye on Housing reports on the most common projects undertaken by NAHB Remodelers during the previous calendar year—in this case, 2021. The results come from a special question included in the first quarter 2022 survey for the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI). At the top of the list, 81 percent of… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-sale housing starts increased during the first quarter of 2022. At 11,000 units started, this was the best quarter for condo construction since the third quarter of 2008. As a result, the market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts decreased to 91% during the first quarter… Read More ›