Eye On Housing
After a prior cooling trend for the volume of new home sales, sales contracts increased 1.5% in August according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The August seasonally adjusted annual rate (740,000) was 24% lower than a year ago, when an unsustainable rebound took hold in the market. Higher prices have also affected housing affordability, with new home… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed 76.3% of new home sales in the second quarter of 2021—the largest share since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. The share of sales backed by conventional loans in Q2 2021 increased 5.1 percentage points (quarter-over-quarter) from… Read More ›
As the market has cooled due to higher costs, July recorded a slight gain of 1% for sales of newly-constructed single family homes, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The July seasonally adjusted annual rate (708K) was 27% lower than a year ago, due to builders slowing sales as a consequence of higher material and other costs… Read More ›
As supply-side challenges continue, June recorded a decline of 6.6% for sales of newly-constructed single family homes, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The June seasonally adjusted annual rate (676K) was the lowest since April 2020, due to builders slowing sales as a consequence of higher material costs and declining availability of labor, material and lots. Higher… Read More ›
After notable and expected downward revisions for prior months, May recorded a decline of 5.9% for sales of newly-constructed single family homes, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The May seasonally adjusted annual rate (769k) was the lowest in a year, due to builders slowing sales as a consequence of higher material costs and declining availability of… Read More ›
After a significant downward revision for the preliminary March data, April recorded a decline of 5.9% for sales of newly-constructed single family homes, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. The April seasonally adjusted annual rate (863k) was the lowest since June 2020, with the exception of a weather-influenced February report. Residential demand continues to be supported by… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed the largest share of new home sales since 2018. The share of sales backed by conventional loans in the Q1 2021 increased 2.8 percentage points (quarter-over-quarter) to 71.6% and 2.1 percentage points since Q1 2020. FHA-backed sales made up 19.3%… Read More ›
New single-family home sales surged in March as housing demand was supported by low interest rates and strong consumer demand, despite the ongoing building materials challenges impacting the housing industry. 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 1.02 million seasonally adjusted annual pace,… Read More ›
After a slight slowing of sales at the end of 2020, new single-family home sales edged higher in January, increasing 4.3% to a 923,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and HUD. Sales exceeded construction starts by a historic margin at the end of the summer, which necessitated an increase in starts and some slowing… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that conventional loans financed the most new home sales in a fourth quarter since 2006 (see red bars in the chart below). However, the share of sales backed by conventional loans in the fourth quarter was down 2.2 percentage points (quarter-over-quarter)… Read More ›