Eye On Housing
A modest increase in interest rates offset a slight decline in home prices to keep housing affordability essentially level in the fourth quarter of 2018 and still hovering at a 10-year low, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 56.6 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of… Read More ›
As revealed in a previous post, 58% of buyers actively searching for a home to buy in the fourth quarter of 2018 have been looking – unsuccessfully – for three months or longer. Why is it taking these buyers that long to pull the trigger? The most important reason is they can’t find a home at a price they can… Read More ›
Most people start thinking about and planning a home purchase well in advance of actually engaging in the process of finding a home. In a national poll in the final quarter of 2018, 13% of adults reported planning a home purchase within the next year. Of those prospective buyers, 54% were already actively involved in trying to find a home… Read More ›
In addition to analyzing buyers’ perceptions about housing availability, the quarterly Housing Trends Report (HTR) also explores perceptions about housing affordability. The poll asks prospective home buyers to estimate the share of homes available in their markets they believe they can afford. In the final quarter of 2018, three out of every four buyers (76%) estimate they can afford fewer than… Read More ›
In the last quarter of 2017, 27% of prospective home buyers expected the search for a home to get easier in the months ahead. Fast forward a year to the final quarter of 2018, and that share falls to 19%. Logically, if fewer buyers think house hunting is getting easier, then a growing share must feel it is getting harder… Read More ›
In the final quarter of 2018, 13% of adults reported plans to purchase a home within a year. A year earlier, in the final quarter of 2017, a significantly larger portion – 24% – had the same plans. This sharp decline in the share of prospective home buyers provides additional evidence that the erosion of housing affordability has become a… Read More ›
The third quarter Federal Reserve Flow of Funds report showed continued improvement in the financial position of U.S. households with real estate, as the market value of all owner-occupied residential real estate (household owned) rose to $25.6 trillion. According to NAHB tabulations of the quarterly series, the asset or market value of owner-occupied real estate held by U.S. households increased… Read More ›
In the third quarter of 2018, 13% of adults in NAHB’s Housing Trends Report* poll report planning to purchase a home in the next 12 months. Of that group, 46 percent are not merely planning it, they are already actively engaged in the search for the right home to buy. And they are spending significant amounts of time looking. In… Read More ›
A modest increase in interest rates and home prices kept housing affordability at a 10-year low in the third quarter of 2018, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 56.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were affordable to families earning… Read More ›
The most common exterior wall materials on homes started in 2017 were vinyl and stucco siding. Vinyl siding was used on 27 percent of the new homes started in 2017, followed closely by stucco (25 percent), brick or brick veneer (21 percent), and fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) (20 percent). Far smaller shares of single-family homes started last… Read More ›