Eye On Housing
During the first quarter of 2022, credit became tighter on loans for Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) according to NAHB’s Survey on AD&C Financing. The NAHB survey produces a net easing index that summarizes the change in credit conditions, similar to the net easing index constructed from the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers (SLOOS). In the first quarter… Read More ›
Following a 25 basis points increase in March, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee unanimously approved a further 50 basis points increase for the federal funds target rate, the largest increase for the rate in more than two decades. The Fed also provided details for its plan to reduce its balance sheet (quantitative tightening), which will further tighten financial conditions…. Read More ›
The construction labor market remains tight, as the industry sees a rising number of job openings year-over-year. The count of open construction jobs increased slightly to 396,000 unfilled positions in March. The highest measure in the history of the data series (going back to late 2000) was 416,000 in April 2019. The housing market remains underbuilt and requires additional labor,… Read More ›
Housing’s share of the economy edged higher at the start of 2022 due in part to a surprise drop in growth. For the first quarter of 2022, overall GDP growth declined at a 1.4% annual rate, driven by increased inventories and a jump in imports. Housing’s share of GDP increased to 16.7%, somewhat off a 14-year high of 17.8% during… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Census estimates concerning sources of financing for new home sales reveals that conventional loans accounted for 78.5% of new home sales in the first quarter of 2022, the highest share in more than a decade. Conventional loans financed over three-quarters of new home sales in the second quarter of 2008 before steadily falling and bottoming out at 57.3%… Read More ›
New single-family home sales declined in March as mortgage rates jumped to the highest levels since the start of the pandemic. Per Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.89 at the end of February and had climbed to 4.67 at the end of March. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated… Read More ›
Single-family starts permits declined in March, as higher interest rates weighed on housing affordability and produced a fourth straight decline for the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI. Additionally, the cost and availability of materials, lumber, labor and lots remain key supply-side headwinds. Nonetheless, the resale market lacks inventory supporting ongoing demand for new construction. Single-family permits decreased 4.8% to a 1.15 million… Read More ›
Rapidly rising interest rates combined with ongoing home price increases and higher construction costs continue to take a toll on builder confidence and housing affordability. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes moved two points lower to 77 in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the… Read More ›
The NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter of 2022 posted a reading of 86, unchanged from the first quarter of 2021. The RMI and all of its components and subcomponents were 80 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 100) indicating broad-based positive remodeler sentiment. The RMI is based on a survey that asks remodelers… Read More ›
Among first-time buyers, both a shower stall and tub in the primary bath ranked as the most popular of the 18 bathroom features listed in the NAHB study, What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021 Edition. The study asked first-time, as well as repeat, home buyers to rate the kitchen features on the following, four-tier scale (which emphasizes how a feature… Read More ›