Eye On Housing
In a further show of strength for the housing sector, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes increased two points to 85 in October, further surpassing the previous all-time high of 83 recorded in September, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). These are the first two months the index has ever been above 80…. Read More ›
Of the single-family homes started in 2019, 64.7 percent came with porches, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development). Historically, the SOC shows the share of single-family homes with porches increasing regularly to a high of 65.7 percent in 2011 before dropping to under… Read More ›
After a sharp decline in the spring, home building has staged a dramatic rebound. In fact, supported by low mortgage rates, an evolving geography of housing preferences, and favorable demographic tailwinds, housing demand has improved so quickly that the current difference between the pace of newly-built single-family home sales and for-sale single-family construction starts has reached a historic level. The… Read More ›
The total market share of non-site built single-family homes (modular and panelized) declined to 3% of single-family completions in 2019, according to Census Bureau Survey of Construction data and NAHB analysis. This share is expected to rise moderately in 2020 and in the years ahead, due to the ongoing labor shortage in the residential construction sector and the need to lift labor… Read More ›
The shock and fallout to the construction labor market from the recession of 2020 continued in early Fall as housing activity strengthened due to low interest rates. After an accelerated pace of layoffs in March and April, construction hiring roared back in May and June, per data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). More recent July… Read More ›
For the first time since the Census Bureau started tracking lot sizes for new single-family detached homes, the median lot size for homes sold in 2019 dropped to 8,177 square feet, or 0.188 of an acre. This represents a solid drop of 390 square feet since 2018 and a new record low. The shrinking median lot size largely reflects the… Read More ›
New single-family home sales surged in August, as housing demand was supported by low interest rates, a renewed consumer focus on the importance of housing, and rising demand in lower-density markets like suburbs and exurbs. Census and HUD estimated new home sales in August at a 1.01 million seasonally adjusted annual pace, an approximate 4.8% gain over revised July rate… Read More ›
The residential sector, including single-family, multifamily, and manufactured housing, accounts for about 21.2% of the US energy consumption, according to the 2020 Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Review. New homes built since 2000 account for just 3.7% of the total energy consumed in the U.S., according to NAHB’s analysis of the 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) data from… Read More ›
We know lumber prices are up more than 170% since mid-April as of mid-September. As housing has rebounded, the lack of lumber has materialized as a key weak spot for housing supply. With that in mind, what’s the market share of alternative framing methods? For better or worse, wood framing remains the dominant construction method for single-family homes in the… Read More ›
Single-family starts showed continued growth in August but overall housing production fell 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units due to a double-digit percentage decline in multifamily production, according to data from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Departments. The pace of single-family starts in August was the highest production rate since February…. Read More ›