Eye On Housing
Despite the volatility surrounding the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the housing market has shown remarkable resilience, fueled by demographic tailwinds and a housing shortage due to a decade of underbuilding. Home construction slowed after 2007 as a result of the 2008 Great Recession, but home building staged a slow, modest recovery over the last decade, with a sharp acceleration in 2020… Read More ›
Total housing starts decreased 1.6% in September, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Single-family starts were flat for the month, while overall multifamily starts declined in August. The August total starts reading of 1.56 million starts is the number of housing units builders would begin if development kept this… Read More ›
Over the first eight months of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 775,772. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 25.8% increase over the August 2020 level of 616,856. Year-to-date ending in August, single-family permits increased in all four regions. The Northeast region reported the strongest increase of 29.3%, followed by the South… Read More ›
Inflation accelerated in September, as prices for food and shelter showed notable gains. Federal Reserve officials described the current inflation run as “transitory”, and attributed recent increases largely to supply-chain constraints and a surge in consumer demand as the economy reopened. And they expected “inflation pressures to ease as the effect of these transitory factors dissipated.” The Bureau of Labor… Read More ›
A reversal is taking place in the construction pipeline. Since early 2013, there have been consistently more multifamily units (residences within 2+ unit properties) under construction relative to single-family homes. This was due to multifamily construction recovering more quickly in the years after the Great Recession, as well as years of underbuilding in the single-family sector. However, as of July,… Read More ›
Total housing starts increased 3.9% in August, due to strength for multifamily development. According to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, single-family starts were down 2.8% for the month, while overall multifamily starts was up 21% in August. The August total starts reading of 1.62 million starts is the number of… Read More ›
Over the first seven months of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 681,949. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 29.7% increase over the July 2020 level of 525,623. Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits increased in all four regions. The Northeast region reported the strongest increase of 32.2%, followed by the South… Read More ›
In August, consumer prices increased at its slowest pace since February 2021. Prices for several travel-related categories declined in August, as the delta variant spreads. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.3% in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, following an increase of 0.5% in July. Excluding the volatile food and… Read More ›
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts remained elevated at 95.2% during the second quarter of 2021. In contrast, the historical low share of 47% was set during the third quarter of 2005, during the condo building boom. An average share of 80% was registered during the 1980-2002 period…. Read More ›
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing decreased in the second quarter, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released y the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) generated from the survey dropped three points to 48 compared to the previous quarter. The MPI measures builder… Read More ›