Eye On Housing
A survey of single-family builders conducted by NAHB in June 2016 shows that shortages of labor and subcontractors have become more widespread than they were a year ago. The survey consisted of special questions on labor and subcontractor availability that NAHB has periodically added to the instrument for the monthly NAHB/Well Fargo Housing Market Index. The questions have covered 9… Read More ›
Eighty percent of remodelers reported a shortage of finished carpenters (and 41 percent said the shortage was serious), according to special questions on NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey in the 3rd quarter of 2015. That’s 8 percentage points higher than NAHB remodelers were reporting just a year ago. The RMI survey asked remodelers about availability of labor in the 12 categories recommended by Home… Read More ›
A survey of single-family builders conducted by NAHB in June 2015 shows that shortages of labor and subcontractors—already quite widespread in mid-2014—have become even more widespread during the past year. The shortages are most acute for basic skills like carpentry, which are needed during the construction of any home. For example, in the 2015 survey 69 percent of builders reported a… Read More ›
Access to labor remains a persistent challenge for home builders and remodelers. Unfilled job openings in the construction sector has moved along an upward trend over the last two and half years. However, there is one group in particular that builders have turned to for workers: military veterans. According to 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey data and NAHB analysis, approximately 666,400… Read More ›
If I were a carpenter… I’d have an easy time finding a remodeling business that wanted to employ me in many parts of the country, according to a recent NAHB survey. The survey is the one used to generate NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI). The RMI survey for the 3rd quarter of 2014 included a set of special questions asking remodelers about availability of labor… Read More ›
Data from a June 2014 NAHB survey show that shortages of labor and subcontractors have become substantially more widespread since 2013. Shortages are particularly acute for workers with basic skills like carpentry, who are needed in significant numbers during the construction of any home. The incidence of reported shortages is also surprisingly high relative to the current state of new home construction, which… Read More ›
NAHB tabulations of employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that nearly 1.4 million specialty trade (or subcontractor) employees left the industry from 2006 to 2011. In spite of the significant drop in the number of specialty trade employees observed in the BLS data on companies, annual statistics for specialty trade nonemployer firms (one-person firms) have been… Read More ›
According to NAHB industry surveys, finding and hiring workers is a key challenge for home builders as construction activity grows. This issue is of such significant importance that it has been selected as a primary issue for NAHB’s 2014 legislative conference, “Bringing Housing Home,” which takes place March 17-21 as home builders and other members of the residential construction industry meet federal… Read More ›
Growing shortages of many types of labor are already starting to have an adverse effect on home building in some parts of the country, according to a recent NAHB survey. The survey consisted of special questions periodically included on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey, asking single-family builders about shortages of labor in 12 categories: carpenters-rough, carpenters-finished, electricians,… Read More ›