Eye On Housing
According to estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, single-family starts increased in October, consistent with solid levels for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Thanks to lower mortgage interest rates, the seasonally adjusted annual pace of single-family permits has been rising since April, the rate of single-family starts has been increasing since May, and… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged one point lower to 70 in November, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The past two months mark the highest sentiment levels in 2019. Single-family builders are currently reporting ongoing positive conditions, spurred in part by low mortgage rates and continued job… Read More ›
Over the first nine months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 647,244. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 2.6% decline over the September 2018 level of 664,665. Year-to-date ending in September, single-family permits reported declines in all four regions. Midwest reported the steepest decline by 6.4%. The West, Northeast, the South,… Read More ›
According to NAHB’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) data, median single-family lot prices outpaced inflation once again (4.4% vs 2.4%) and reached new record high in 2018, with half of the lots selling at or above $49,500. The most dramatic rise in lot values is observed in the West South Central division where median lot values… Read More ›
Of the single-family homes started in 2018, 64.9 percent came with porches, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development). Historically, the SOC shows the share of single-family homes with porches increasing regularly to a high of 65.7 percent in 2011… Read More ›
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings increased in September on a year-over-year basis. The estimated number of job openings declined from the August total to 338,000 in September, after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The September 2019 count of unfilled jobs represents a year-over-year gain relative to… Read More ›
The total market share of non-site built single-family homes was 3% of single-family completions in 2018, according to Census Bureau Survey of Construction data and NAHB analysis. This share is expected to rise moderately in 2019 and in the years ahead, due to the ongoing labor shortage in the residential construction sector and the need to lift labor productivity amid declining housing affordability…. Read More ›
The Federal Reserve reduced the target range for the key, short-term federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a top rate of 1.75% at the conclusion of its October Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This was the third cut in 2019, almost fully reversing a set of increases enacted in 2018. The FOMC views these enacted reductions as… Read More ›
After declines for six consecutive quarters, the home building component of gross domestic product (GDP) increased during the third quarter of 2019. This gain was due to the housing rebound that has taken hold since the spring, with the pace of single-family permits rising since April and the rate of single-family starts increasing since May. The overall housing share of… Read More ›
The median lot size of a new single-family detached home sold in 2018 stands at 8,567 square feet, or just under one-fifth of an acre. This is just 7 square feet larger but statistically not different from the 2017 median. In 2015, the median lot size fell under 8,600 square feet for the first time since Census Bureau’s Survey of… Read More ›