Eye On Housing
The NAR Pending Home Sales Index increased for the fourth straight month in April to a level 14% above April of 2014. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts produced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), increased 3.4% in April to 112.4, up from an upwardly revised 108.7 in March. The PHSI increased year-over-year for the eighth consecutive… Read More ›
Consumer sentiment and consumer confidence are two indexes showing consumers’ perceptions of current business, income and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for the near future’s economy. Figure 1 shows both the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index are highly inversely correlated with the unemployment rate. High unemployment drives down… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Census numbers reveals an increase for the share of newly-built homes financed with FHA-backed mortgages, along with a decline in cash-based sales. The onset of the housing crisis in 2007 led to a decline in the share of new home sales due to conventional mortgage financing and increases in the shares due to mortgages backed by… Read More ›
Builders signed contracts on more homes in February 2015 than any time since early 2008 according to the Census Bureau and HUD. February seasonally-adjusted annual new home sales topped out at 539,000, up 7.8% from a healthy 500,000 in January. Sales increased a whopping 153% in the Northeast region but that was a make-up from an overabundance of snow in… Read More ›
Despite some analysts’ expectations of a monthly decline, the rate of new home sales in January maintained the gains reported in the December report. Combined with upward revisions, the effectively flat monthly change from December to January keeps new home sales near post-recession highs. According to estimates from the joint Census Bureau and HUD release, the January pace of new… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Census numbers regarding the sources of financing for new single-family home sales suggests small changes from the prior quarter, although the long-run trends point to a growing market share for conventional financing sources. The onset of the housing crisis in 2007 led to a decline in the share of new home sales due to conventional… Read More ›
The pace of sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 11.6% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000 homes, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the highest monthly sales rate since June of 2008. After a slow start to the year, new home… Read More ›
With the end of 2014 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In December, we published research on Millennial home purchases. —————————– By Natalia Siniavskaia New NAHB research shows that millennials tend to buy homes that are smaller, older, and less expensive than homes bought by older generations. Being the youngest home buyers… Read More ›
New home sales posted a slight gain in October after downward revisions for prior months, according to data released by the Census Bureau and HUD. Sales of new single-family homes were up 0.7% over a downwardly revised pace for September. The October seasonally adjusted annual sales rate came in at 458,000. This is 1.8% higher than the October 2013 sales… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Census numbers regarding the sources of financing for new single-family home sales suggest little change from the prior quarter, although the long-run trends point to a growing market share for conventional financing sources. The onset of the housing crisis in 2007 led to a decline in the share of new home sales due to… Read More ›