Eye On Housing
After a slight slowing of sales at the end of 2020, new single-family home sales edged higher in January, increasing 4.3% to a 923,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. Sales exceeded construction starts by a historic margin at the end of the summer, which necessitated an increase in starts and some slowing… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the market share of rental units of total multifamily construction starts ticked higher to near 97% during the fourth quarter of 2020. In contrast, the historical low share of 47% was set during the third quarter of 2005, during the condo building boom. An average share of 80% was registered during the… Read More ›
Continuing a period of volume decline that began at the end of 2019, the volume of residential construction lending posted a slight decline during the fourth quarter of 2020. Overall residential construction loan volume ended the year lower due to accelerated sales growth, which reduced outstand loans at a faster clip, and higher interest rates for AD&C financing. The volume… Read More ›
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building ended the year 2020 flat due second quarter weakness. There were 44,000 total custom building starts during the fourth quarter of the year, equal to the fourth quarter 2019 total. Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 176,000, roughly unchanged… Read More ›
Building materials prices topped the list of problems builders faced in 2020 and is expected to return to the number one spot in 2021, according to special questions on the December 2020 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The survey results showed that building materials was a significant issue for 96% of builders last year. In 2021, however,… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction expanded to a 2.5 year high during the final quarter of 2020. As housing demand has shifted to more suburban and exurban areas and housing affordability headwinds persist, medium-density construction initially lagged. However, a strong final quarter led to roughly flat… Read More ›
An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more space, as people use their homes for more purposes. And while this measure has not increased significantly yet, new home size did level off in 2020 after years of decline. According to fourth quarter 2020 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and… Read More ›
While home buyers were benefitting from low mortgage rates at the end of 2020, builders and developers were also experiencing lower interest rates and improved credit conditions, according to NAHB’s survey on financing for Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C). The net tightening index derived from the NAHB survey was -17.0 in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to -3.3 in… Read More ›
Housing production softened in January as rising lumber prices continue to affect the housing industry. Overall housing starts decreased 6% percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.58 million units, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The January reading of 1.58 million starts is the number of housing… Read More ›
Strong buyer demand helped offset supply chain challenges and a surge in lumber prices as builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched up one point to 84 in February, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Lumber prices have been steadily rising this year and hit a record high in mid-February, adding thousands… Read More ›