Eye On Housing
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, after a strong 2018, townhouse construction experienced weakness over the course of 2019. This recent market softness matches data in the NAHB HBGI, which revealed reduced construction activity for large metro suburban markets in 2019. These kind of higher density neighborhoods are often… Read More ›
Total housing starts posted a 3.6 percent decline in January (1.57 million units) compared to an upwardly revised December estimate of 1.63 million units according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to January 2019 (during the housing soft patch), total starts are 21.4 percent above the annual pace of 1.29 million units. Single-family starts… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes edged one point lower to 74 in February, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The last three monthly readings mark the highest sentiment levels since December 2017. Steady job growth, rising wages and low interest rates are fueling housing demand in a market… Read More ›
Over the year 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 854,158. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 0.2% increase over the December 2018 level of 852,856. Year-to-date ending in December, single-family permits reported declines in three regions and an increase in the South. The Northeast reported the steepest decline by 6.8%. The… Read More ›
Cost and availability of labor topped the list of problems builders faced in 2019, and is expected to return to the number one spot in 2020, according to special questions on the December survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The survey results showed that cost and availability of labor were a significant issue for 87% of builders last… Read More ›
In January, NAHB released its new Priced-Out Estimates for 2020. A previous post discussed the often-cited estimate that a $1,000 increase in the price of a median-priced new home will price 158,857 U.S. households out of the market for the home. A second post discussed the related estimate that a quarter point increase in the mortgage rate will price out… Read More ›
Last Friday’s Eye on Housing blog post announced the release of NAHB’s “priced out” estimates for 2020, showing that—if the median new home price goes up by $1,000—it prices 158,857 U.S. households out of the market, in the sense that they would qualify for a standard mortgage to purchase the home before the price increase, but not afterward. The same… Read More ›
New home sales were effectively flat in December, after downward revisions for prior months. However, the sales pace for newly-built single-family homes ended 2019 with a gain of 10%, increasing to a total of 681,000. This marks 2019 as the best year for new home sales since the Great Recession. Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined slightly in December… Read More ›
Of the roughly 875,000 single-family and 375,0000 multifamily homes started in 2018, 29,000 and 31,000, respectively, were age-restricted according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and partially funded by HUD). A housing development can legally restrict the ages of its residents, provided it conforms to one of the set… Read More ›
According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), the custom home share declined to 19.5 percent of all single-family homes started in 2018—lowest since mid-2000. Contractor-built or owner-built houses – that together make up the custom home market – are built one at a time for owner occupancy on owner’s land with either the owner or a… Read More ›