Eye On Housing
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states in June compared to the previous month while 11 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs. Rhode Island reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000 in June, following a gain of 384,000 jobs in May. On a month-over-month basis, employment data… Read More ›
Lumber prices have been on a roller-coaster ride over the past two years and reached to an all-time high price of $1,515 per thousand board feet in the week ending May 21, 2021, as reported by Random Lengths. However, despite higher lumber prices and ongoing supply-chain issues, wood framing remains the most dominant construction method for single-family homes in the… Read More ›
Increased interest rates, building material supply chain bottlenecks and elevated construction costs continue to put a damper on the single-family housing market. For the first time since June 2020, both single-family starts and permits fell below a one million annual pace. Overall housing starts fell 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.56 million units in June from an… Read More ›
Builder confidence plunged in July as high inflation and increased interest rates stalled the housing market by dramatically slowing sales and buyer traffic. In a further sign of a weakening housing market, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its seventh straight monthly decline in July, falling 12 points to 55, according to the National Association… Read More ›
Since the relatively low point at the onset of the pandemic on April 17, 2020, lumber prices have been volatile, with record setting spikes interspersed with periods of substantial declines. On balance over the entire period, however, softwood lumber prices have increased enough to add $14,345 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $5,511 to the market… Read More ›
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 ›