Eye On Housing
In the first quarter of 2019, adults planning a home purchase (i.e. prospective buyers) were asked about their expectations for housing availability in the near future. Results show that 22% expect the search for a home to become easier in the months ahead, an improvement over the 16% who had that same expectation a year earlier. During this period, the… Read More ›
In the first quarter of 2019, 13% of adults reported plans to purchase a home within a year. That is just slightly below where the share stood a year earlier, at 17%. The decline marks the second consecutive year-over-year drop in the share of adults planning to buy a home, providing further evidence that the deterioration in affordability is having… Read More ›
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued new definitions for some of the nation’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions in 2018. In this context, the definition of a metro area is simply the list of counties(y) that officially belong to that metro, grouped together based on commuting patterns. Larger MSAs, such as New York or Washington DC, are… Read More ›
Typically, one of the best-kept secrets in a private company is the share of total revenue that stays in the company after paying all operating costs and expenses. For a number of personal, business, or strategic reasons, that number – also known as net profit margin – tends to remain the purview of owner(s) and accountants. Despite these company-specific realities,… Read More ›
Vacancy rates are one of the key statistics NAHB Economics tracks to judge the health and direction of the housing market. The currently low homeowner and rental vacancy rates are typically interpreted as a sign of tight housing markets, with lower vacancy rates signaling a greater housing shortage. NAHB’s analysis of the latest 2017 ACS vacancy data highlights the metropolitan… Read More ›
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 ›