Eye On Housing
Tag Archive for ‘home building’
Consumer Credit Outstanding Climbs as Student Loans Continue To Rise
The Federal Reserve Board reported that consumer credit outstanding rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.0% in September to $2.7 trillion. The over-the-month increase in consumer credit outstanding, which excludes real estate secured loans such as mortgages and home equity lines of credit, reflected a 9.2% rise in non-revolving credit outstanding, 0.1 percentage point higher than the growth… Read More ›
Year over Year, Confidence in the 55+ Housing Market Continues to Improve
Once again, builder confidence in the 55+ housing market showed significant improvement, according to NAHB’s 55+ Housing Market Indices (55+ HMIs) for the third quarter of 2012. The 55+ HMIs and their components are based on survey questions that ask builders if market conditions are good, fair, or poor (high/very high, about average, or low/very low for the questions on traffic). … Read More ›
Sources of Small Business Financing in the Construction Sector
According to recently-published data from the Census Bureau, businesses in the construction sector depend on multiple sources of capital for financing start ups and expansion plans, especially sources that are closely connected to the owner’s (or owners’) assets. Furthermore, the data show that construction sector business owners tend to work long hours in order to keep their enterprises successful. The… Read More ›
List of Improving Housing Markets Expands to 125 in November
The number of U.S. housing markets showing consistent improvement in three key measures of strength expanded by 22 in November to a total of 125, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). This marks a third consecutive monthly gain for the index, which now includes representatives from across 38 states as well as the District… Read More ›
JOLTS Data: Seasonal Turnover Holds Back Construction Labor Market Growth
September data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate construction hiring picked up in September after a slow August. However, an increase in layoffs held back net hiring for the month. As a result, the pace of hiring for the sector in 2012 remains lackluster, especially given the recent pickup in strength of housing construction activity. For the economy as a whole, the September… Read More ›
Lending Standards on Prime Residential Mortgages Ease Only Slightly but Demand Remains Strong
Results from the Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey indicate that, on net, a small fraction of banks eased their lending standards for business and consumer loans over the previous three months. They also reported that respondents noticed little change in residential real estate lending standards on balance. Meanwhile, a significant share of banks reported a strengthening of… Read More ›
Indexes of Consumer Confidence Are Growing, Sentiment has Surpassed Its Pre-Recession Level
Recently released measures of consumer sentiment indicate that consumers’ confidence is growing. Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan reported that its Consumer Sentiment Index rose by 5.5% to settle at 82.6. This is the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the index. By comparison, the Consumer Confidence Index, produced by the Conference Board, grew by 5.7% over the month of October, its third consecutive… Read More ›
Census: An Increase in Multigenerational Households
A recent Census report highlights a component of pent-up housing demand – the rise of multigenerational households. Data from the 2009 – 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) reported that 4.3 million households were multigenerational, or 5.6% of the total of 76.4 million family households with more than one person. This count represents a significant increase in the share of multigenerational households… Read More ›