Eye On Housing
Housing production continue to slow in February off strong levels as rising lumber and other material prices continue to affect the housing industry. Overall housing starts decreased 10.3% percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The February reading of… Read More ›
Over the first month of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 83,921. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 19.2% increase over the January 2020 level of 70,386. Year-to-date ending in January, single-family permits reported increases in all four regions. The relatively more affordable Midwest reported the strongest increase of 21.5%, followed by… Read More ›
Last week, we published a post highlighting a continuing high reliance of construction on immigrant workers that now account for 24% of the construction work force. The share is much higher, reaching 30%, among construction tradesmen. In some states, reliance on foreign-born labor is even more pronounced with immigrants comprising close to 40% of the construction workforce in California and… Read More ›
Job openings in construction increased in January to the highest count since the Fall of 2019 according to data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Hiring in construction was strong as 2021 began. However, construction employment did decline in February as material prices increased. The JOLTS data is reported with a one-month lag, so the February… Read More ›
According to the February survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), first-time home buyers account for 43 percent of the new home market. Weighted by builder size (single-family homes started in 2020), about two-thirds of the builders reported that more than 20 percent of their homes were sold to first-time buyers. Twenty-seven percent even said more than half… Read More ›
According to the most recent American Community Survey (ACS), the number of immigrant workers in construction approached 2.8 million in 2019, the highest level recorded by the ACS. Immigrant workers now account for 24% of the construction workforce, slightly below the 2016 record high share of 24.4%. The share of immigrants is higher in construction trades, reaching 30%. The latest… Read More ›
In the survey results described in one of last week’s posts, prices of building material ranked as the number one problem among NAHB’s single-family builders, and availability of building materials ranked second. These concerns are not surprising, given the surge in building material prices reported in the latest Producer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Traditionally, when… Read More ›
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 ›