Eye On Housing
Thanks to a surge in residential investment during 2020, housing’s share of GDP remains elevated compared to recent years. Last year’s market conditions involved a renewed focus on the importance of home, an evolving geography of housing demand, and a lack of for-sale inventory. Housing will continue to expand in 2021, although as the rest of the economy recovers, the… Read More ›
Today’s Federal Open Market Committee announcement did not provide an explicit reference to an expected tapering of purchases of Treasury ($80 billion a month) and mortgage-backed ($40 billion a month) securities. In addition, as part of its ongoing accommodative policy stance, the Fed held its benchmark target rate near zero percent. In Chairman Powell’s press conference remarks, he stated, “The… Read More ›
The total market share of non-site built single-family homes (modular and panelized) was at 3% of single-family completions in 2020, according to Census Bureau Survey of Construction data and NAHB analysis. This share is expected to rise moderately in 2021 and in the years ahead, due to the ongoing labor shortage in the residential construction sector and the need to lift labor… Read More ›
Housing production was steady in June, although permit issuance weakened as higher construction costs and other supply limitations are deferring and delaying some construction projects. Overall housing starts increased 6.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.64 million units, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. However, single-family permits… Read More ›
Strong buyer demand helped to offset ongoing supply-side challenges of labor shortages, regulatory costs, and rising prices of materials as builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched down one point to 80 in July, according the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Among the supply-side challenges, the price of OSB (oriented… Read More ›
According to NAHB’s latest estimates, changes in prices for softwood lumber products that occurred between April 17, 2020 and July 08, 2021 are enough to add $29,833 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $9,990 to the market value of an average new multifamily home. The increase in multifamily value, in turn, translates to households paying $92… Read More ›
The NAHB/Royal Building Products Remodeling Market Index (RMI) increased for the second quarter, posting a reading of 87, up 14 points from the second quarter of 2020. The increase in the index is a sign of improving remodelers’ confidence in their markets, for projects of all sizes. The RMI is an average of two major component indices: the Current Conditions… Read More ›
New NAHB research shows that despite declining self-employment rates and the rising top builder market share, residential construction remains the industry of independent entrepreneurs with close to 80% of homebuilders and specialty trade contractor firms being self-employed independent contractors. Even among firms with paid employees, the industry continues to be dominated by small businesses, with 63% of homebuilders and two… Read More ›
Although lumber prices have declined somewhat recently, this follows a period of record increases that started in mid-2020 and have left prices at historic highs. In a recent NAHB survey, 94 percent of builders reported a shortage of framing lumber. Despite this, as Tuesday’s post showed, wood framing remains the dominant construction method for single-family homes in the U.S., accounting… Read More ›
The count of open construction jobs declined in May to 299,000 unfilled positions, according to data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The housing market remains hot and requires additional labor, lots and lumber and building materials to add inventory. Overall, hiring in the construction sector remained strong in May, ticking down to a 4.2% rate…. Read More ›