Eye On Housing
A lack of existing inventory and stabilizing mortgage rates helped push single-family production up to the highest rate thus far in 2023 even as builders continue to deal with high construction costs, persistent labor shortages and tightening credit conditions for construction loans. Overall housing starts in April increased 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.40 million units, according… Read More ›
The NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey has asked questions about Aging-in-Place (AIP) periodically, beginning in 2004. According to results from the Q1 2023 survey, 63 percent of professional remodelers undertake projects designed to allow homeowners to Age-in-Place, down from 77 percent in Q4 2018. This is the lowest percentage since the Q2 2006 survey (60 percent). When asked… Read More ›
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its May meeting. Although the communication from the Fed did not explicitly indicate that they are done tightening, language used in their statement signals the Fed is moving toward a more data-dependent posture, albeit one that retains a hawkish bias…. Read More ›
Housing’s share of the economy moved lower at the end of the first quarter of 2023. Overall GDP increased at a 1.1% annual rate, following a 2.6% increase in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 3.2% increase in the third quarter of 2022. Despite overall GDP increasing, housing’s share of GDP decreased to 15.8%, below the 2022 fourth quarter share… Read More ›
Lower mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to push new home sales up in March, even as builders continue to grapple with increased construction costs and material supply disruptions. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated sales of newly built, single-family homes in March at a 683,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace, which… Read More ›
Single-family production showed signs of a gradual upturn in March as stabilizing mortgage rates and limited existing inventory helped to offset stubbornly high construction costs, building labor shortages and tightening credit conditions. This is reflected in the slight uptick in builder sentiment in April. Overall housing starts in March decreased 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units,… Read More ›
Builders remained cautiously optimistic in April as limited resale inventory helped to increase demand in the new home market even as the industry continues to grapple with building material issues. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes in April rose one point to 45, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index… Read More ›
The NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter of 2023 posted a reading of 70, edging up 1 point from the fourth quarter of 2022. While remodelers are generally more optimistic than their single-family builder counterparts, some are noting negative effects within the market including continued material shortages and higher interest rates. Current overall RMI reading of… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) data, large banks (assets greater than $10 billion) have increased their share of the residential construction loan market above pre-Great Recession levels in recent years. A 1-4 family residential construction loan is used for residential 1-4 family construction and land development. The majority of 1-4 residential construction loans are still… Read More ›
Higher mortgage rates and home prices, as well as increased construction costs contributed to lackluster new home sales in February, but signs point to improvement later in the year. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in February increased 1.1% to a 640,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading in January, according to newly released data by the… Read More ›