Eye On Housing
The price and availability of building materials again topped the list of problems builders faced last year, while interest rates (along with general inflation and negative media reports) moved considerably up the list. According to special questions on the January 2023 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, building material prices were a significant issue for 96% of builders… Read More ›
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed new standards to determine if construction materials for federally funded infrastructure projects are made in the USA. The new guidance, required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)—“sets standards to carry out the statutory requirement that all manufacturing processes for construction material occur in… Read More ›
The U.S. economy continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2022. As consumer spending and private inventory investment helped increase GDP, residential fixed investment dragged down the contribution to percent change in real GDP by 1.29 percentage points. More importantly, the data from the GDP report suggests that inflation is cooling. The GDP price index, rose 3.5% for the… Read More ›
The producer price index (PPI) for inputs to residential construction less energy (i.e. building materials) rose 8.3% in 2022 (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest PPI report—less than one-half the increase seen in 2021. On a monthly basis, building materials prices declined 0.3% in December—the fourth consecutive monthly decrease. After increasing an average of 1.8% per month the first five… Read More ›
Consumer prices in December saw the largest month-over-month decrease since April 2020. While still elevated, inflation experienced the third month below an 8% annual growth rate since February 2022. Moreover, this was the sixth consecutive month of a deceleration. However, the shelter index (housing inflation) continued to rise at an accelerated pace and was the largest contributor to the total… Read More ›
Real estate taxes vary widely across states both in terms of annual taxes paid as well as effective tax rates. In 2021, the difference between average real estate taxes (RETs) paid by New Jersey and Alabama home owners was $8,336. New Jersey continued its perennial distinction as having the highest average real estate tax bill per home owner ($9,151) as… Read More ›
Consumer prices in November saw the smallest year-over-year gain since December 2021.While still elevated, inflation experienced the second month below an 8% annual growth rate since February 2022. However, the shelter index continued to rise at an accelerated pace and was more than offsetting decreases in energy indexes. Shelter inflation will primarily be cooled in the future via additional housing… Read More ›
The prices of building materials decreased 0.3% in November (not seasonally adjusted) following 0.5% and 0.1% declines in September and October, respectively, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. The index has decreased five of six months for the first time since 2015. The PPI for goods inputs to residential construction, including energy, fell 0.8% in November. The index… Read More ›
The prices of building materials decreased 0.2% in October (not seasonally adjusted) following a 0.5% decline in September according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. The index has decreased four of five months for the first time since 2015. The PPI for goods inputs to residential construction, including energy, was led 0.2% higher by prices of diesel fuel (+9.5%)… Read More ›
Consumer prices in October saw the smallest year-over-year gain since January 2022, and while still elevated, inflation experienced the first month below an 8% annual growth rate since February 2022. However, the shelter index continued to rise at an accelerated pace and the energy index increased after declining for three straight months. As inflation appears to have peaked and has… Read More ›