Data & Forecasts
Top Challenges for Builders: Building Materials Prices in 2020 & 2021
Building materials prices topped the list of problems builders faced in 2020 and is expected to return to the number one spot in 2021, according to special questions on the December 2020 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The survey results showed that building materials was a significant issue for 96% of builders last year. In…
Read MoreHomeownership Remains Primary Driver of Household Wealth
The 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) showed improvements in economic well-being for many across income and wealth distributions over 2016 to 2019. The homeownership rate increased from a low of 63.7% in 2016 to 64.9% in 2019. Moreover, the primary residence continued to be the largest asset on the balance sheets of households in 2019 (Figure 1),…
Read MorePending Home Sales Continue to Fall Amid Low Inventory and Higher Prices
After reaching a record high in August, pending home sales slid for the fourth consecutive month, as surging home prices and low inventory started to impede the housing market. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts. The PHSI fell 0.3% from 125.9 in November to 125.5…
Read MoreSignificant Shift in Interest for Newly-Built Homes
According to NAHB’s latest Housing Trends Report, 15% of adults were considering a home purchase in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from 11% a year earlier. Further analysis reveals a significant shift in interest for newly-built homes during this period among prospective buyers. In the final quarter of 2020, 41% of buyers were looking for…
Read MoreCommerce Department Cuts Lumber Tariffs from 20% to 9%
With lumber prices experiencing extreme price volatility this year and harming housing affordability, a final determination of the first administrative review by the U.S. Commerce Department to reduce duties on shipments of Canadian lumber into the United States by more than half is good news for American home builders and home buyers. “The Commerce Department’s action to…
Read MoreHighest Paid Occupations in Construction in 2019
According to the 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey data and analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), half of payroll workers in construction earn more than $49,030 and the top 25% make at least $68,690. In comparison, the U.S. median wage is $39,810, while the top quartile (top…
Read MoreNew Homes Built with Private Wells and Individual Septic Systems in 2019
NAHB Economics analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) data shows that about 9% of new single-family homes started in 2019 were served by individual wells and almost 17% have private septic systems. These shares, however, vary widely across the nine Census divisions with the corresponding shares reaching 37% and 45% in New England –…
Read MoreMost Expect to Continue Work At Home, Even After COVID Vaccine
About 3 out of every 10 American adults are currently working from home, on a full- or part-time basis. The finding comes from a recent poll of a representative sample of over 17,000 adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult. Gen Z’s made up 12% of respondents, Millennials and Gen X’ers were each 26%, and…
Read MoreHousing Starts Mark a Solid Start in 2020
Total housing starts posted a 3.6 percent decline in January (1.57 million units) compared to an upwardly revised December estimate of 1.63 million units according to the joint data release from the Census Bureau and HUD. Relative to January 2019 (during the housing soft patch), total starts are 21.4 percent above the annual pace of 1.29 million…
Read MoreMillennial Buyers’ Willingness to Pay for Green Features
Results from NAHB’s report, What Home Buyers Really Want (2019 Edition), show that Millennials want an environment-friendly home, but few are willing to pay more for it for that reason alone. They are, however, willing to pay for certain green features, such as those that provide energy efficiency and cost saving benefits over time. When asked…
Read MoreBuilders’ and Remodelers’ Use of Technology in 2019
According to a recent NAHB study, although use of some factory-produced components like trusses has become widespread, the newer and more innovative types of construction technology, such as 3D printing and robots, have so far penetrated the residential market only to a very limited extent. This is true for both single-family builders and residential remodelers. Data…
Read MoreBasements Continue to Fall out of Favor
NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that 60.1% of all new single-family started in 2018 were built on slab foundations, followed by 24.3% with a full/partial basement, and 14.3% with a crawl space. The gap between slab and full/partial basement foundation adoption rates is growing: the share of new homes built on…
Read MoreExisting Home Sales See First Year-Over-Year Gain in a Year, Boosted by Lower Mortgage Rates
After a minor decline in June, existing home sales, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), rebounded in July. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, climbed 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.42 million in July. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 0.6% up than a year ago,…
Read MoreProperty Taxes Account for 40 Percent of State and Local Tax Revenue in Q1 2019
NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s quarterly tax data shows that $594 billion in taxes were paid by property owners over the four quarters ending in Q1 2019.[1] It has been seven years since four-quarter property tax revenues declined. After accelerating in the third and fourth quarters of 2017, the four-quarter growth rate of property tax…
Read MoreEconomic Forecast – October 2019
NAHB chief economist Dr. Robert Dietz addressed the NAHB membership at the recent NAHB Fall Leadership Council in New Orleans. His presentation, “The Housing Affordability Crunch and Rebound” is available for all HBA members to review. Below are a few samples. Click any of the images below or click here for a pdf of the…
Read More