Eye On Housing
Perhaps as the most telegraphed interest rate cut of recent decades, the Federal Reserve reduced the key, short-term federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a top rate of 2.25%. This policy change is good for housing and home building, which continue to face housing affordability headwinds in spite of favorable demographics. There were two dissents to the announcement,… Read More ›
With the release of the estimate of second quarter 2019 GDP growth (2.1% growth rate), housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) continued a downward trend, more evidence of the the lack of housing supply caused and affected by ongoing housing affordability issues. Housing’s share of GDP fell to 14.6%. The home building and remodeling component – residential fixed investment… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased in June by 7.0% to a 646,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The increase came off a downwardly revised May estimate, which was decreased from an initial reading of 626,000 to a new estimate of 604,000. Year-over-year, the June estimate is 4.5% higher compared to… Read More ›
According to estimates from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department, single-family starts improved in June, consistent with the recent stabilization of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Single-family starts increased 3.5% to a 847,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace in June. However, total housing starts were down approximately 1% (1.253 million annual rate) due to a decline… Read More ›
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 65 in July, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This marks the sixth consecutive month that sentiment levels have held at a steady range in the low- to mid-60s. Builders report solid demand for single-family homes. However, they continue… Read More ›
Over the first five months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 342,116. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 5.8% decline over the May 2018 level of 363,327. Year-to-date ending in May, single-family permits reported declines in all four regions. The Midwest, West, South, and the Northeast declined by 10.6%, 11.0%, 2.8%,… Read More ›
Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that construction job openings declined in May off a cycle high count in April. The estimated number of job openings in the construction sector fell back to 369,000 after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The decline occurred with a somewhat elevated level of layoffs in… Read More ›
Although produced by NAHB’s Economists, Eye on Housing is intended for a fairly broad readership with an interest in housing, but not necessarily in the academic research published by technical journals. Nevertheless, many EoH readers will want to know about a relatively recent technical paper published in Housing Policy Debate. The paper is called The What, Where, and When of… Read More ›
Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined to a 626,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in May according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. This was a surprising drop due to recent softening of mortgage interest rates and continued low unemployment. Recent months’ data have been relatively positive, with the revised March pace of 705,000… Read More ›
Total housing starts posted a 0.9 percent decrease in May (1.269 million units) compared to an upwardly revised April estimate of 1.281 million units, according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to May 2018, total starts are 4.7 percent below the annual pace of 1.332 million units. Single-family production in May posted a monthly… Read More ›