Eye On Housing
On balance, the residential housing market has been improving in recent months, but the pace of recovery is partly restrained by frictions in the mortgage market. Against this backdrop, U.S. regulators have proposed comprehensive new regulatory capital requirements for U.S. banking organizations. These newly proposed rules will serve to implement Basel III, the most recent revision to international bank regulatory… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘home building’
NAHB MVI Indicates Healthy, Stable Market for Existing Rental Apartments
In the third quarter of 2012, NAHB’s Multifamily Vacancy Index (MVI) improved 3 points to 33, largely offsetting the previous quarter’s 5 point swing in the other direction. The MVI is a measure of property owners’ sentiment about vacancies in existing rental apartments, so lower numbers are better. After hitting a record high of 70 in the second quarter of… Read More ›
Construction Job Openings Spike in October
October data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that the number of open positions in the construction sector increased significantly, reaching levels and rates last seen in 2007. While one month of preliminary data needs to be taken with caution, increases in housing construction suggest that employment levels should be higher than other data sources suggest. For the economy as… Read More ›
Despite the Recent Increase, Credit Card Debt Outstanding Remains On A Downward Path
According to the Federal Reserve Board, consumer credit outstanding increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.2% in October, an acceleration of 0.8 percentage points over September’s growth rate. Unlike September, the October increase in consumer credit outstanding, which excludes loans secured by real estate, reflects growth in both revolving and non-revolving credit. In October, revolving credit expanded by… Read More ›
Credit Still Tight, Although Builders Report Slight Improvement
Availability of new loans for acquisition, development, and construction (AD&C) has finally started to improve slightly, according to NAHB’s survey on AD&C financing for the third quarter of 2012. The overall net bank tightening index calculated from the AD&C survey dropped from +6.0 in the second quarter down to -4.3. The way the index is constructed, negative numbers indicate easing… Read More ›
AD&C Lending During the Third Quarter
Despite less than robust economic conditions, home building economic data have been fairly positive for 2012. For example, the level of residential construction spending is at a four-year high. However, one factor holding back an even stronger rebound in home construction is the lack of accessible Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C) loans. While it appears the period of dramatic declines of the outstanding stock of AD&C loans… Read More ›
AD&C Lending During the Third Quarter
Despite less than robust economic conditions, home building economic data have been fairly positive for 2012. For example, the level of residential construction spending is at a four-year high. However, one factor holding back an even stronger rebound in home construction is the lack of accessible Acquisition, Development and Construction (AD&C) loans. While it appears the period of dramatic declines of the outstanding stock of AD&C loans… Read More ›
Lower Operating Costs Mean New-Home Buyers Can Afford More House
A newly published study from NAHB’s Economics and Housing Policy Group looks at how operating costs vary depending on the age of the home, using data that has recently become available from the American Housing Survey (funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau). Basic findings include operating costs (fuels, other utilities, maintenance,… Read More ›
Confidence in Multifamily Production Mostly Up in the Third Quarter, with Some Weakness in Low-Rent
The Multifamily Production Index (MPI), released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), remained fairly steady in the third quarter of 2012 at 52—the third straight quarter the index has been over 50. The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about conditions for apartment and condominium construction, and is are scaled so that any number over 50 means more… Read More ›
Improving Markets Index Leaps to 201
The number of metropolitan areas designated as improving by the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) leaped to 201 in December. The index measures the number of markets that have seen an improvement in three primary market indicators, single-family building permits, home prices and employment, for at least six months. The IMI stood at 125 in November and was amplified in… Read More ›