Eye On Housing
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building registered relatively flat conditions for the second quarter of 2022. There were 53,000 total custom building starts during the second quarter of the year. This marks a 2% decline compared to the second quarter of 2021 in terms of year-over-year change. Over… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the second quarter of 2022 single-family attached starts totaled 38,000, which is 9.5% lower than the second quarter of 2021. Nonetheless, over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 148,000 units, 7% higher than the prior four quarter total (138,000). However,… Read More ›
Single-family built-for-rent sector construction surged during the second quarter of 2022 as homebuying affordability declined on higher mortgage interest rates. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 21,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the second quarter of 2022. This is a 91% gain over the second quarter… Read More ›
A sharp decline in single-family home construction is another indicator that the housing slowdown is showing no signs of abating, as rising construction costs, elevated mortgage rates and supply chain disruptions continue to act as a drag on the market. Overall housing starts fell 9.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.45 million units in July, according to a… Read More ›
Builder confidence fell for the eighth straight month in August as elevated interest rates, ongoing supply chain problems and high home prices continue to exacerbate housing affordability challenges. In another sign that a declining housing market has failed to bottom out, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell six points in August to 49, marking the… Read More ›
During the second quarter of 2022, credit became both tighter and more costly on loans for Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) according to NAHB’s Survey on AD&C Financing. The average effective rate (based on rate of return to the lender over the assumed life of the loan taking both the contract interest rate and initial fee into account) increased substantially… Read More ›
The construction labor market is cooling off as economic activity slows in response to tighter monetary policy per the latest job openings data. Given the Fed’s dual mandate of fighting inflation and maintaining maximum employment, macro price and jobs data are key to informing the Fed’s future policy moves. Inflation remains near a 40-year high and payroll employment growth is… Read More ›
Headship rates for all age groups have been trending lower over the last two decades, with important implications for the demand for home building. The latest Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) data show that the pandemic housing boom brought this trend to a halt, with adults ages 35-64 now registering higher headship rates than they… Read More ›
Housing’s share of the economy edged lower at the end of the first half of 2022. For the second quarter of 2022, overall GDP declined at a 0.9% annual rate, following a 1.6% decrease in the first quarter. Housing’s share of GDP decreased to 16.6%, slightly below the first quarter share of 16.7%. In the second quarter, the more cyclical home… Read More ›
Continuing its tightening of financial conditions to bring the rate of inflation lower, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 75 basis points, increasing that target to an upper bound of 2.5%. This move matches the June rate hike as the largest increase for the funds rate since 1994. While committing to a policy… Read More ›