An expected impact of the virus crisis was a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. During the housing boom after covid, this led to a rise for new single-family home size. However, as the housing market weakens on lower affordability conditions this trend appears to be reversing. According to third quarter 2022… Read More ›

As a previous post has shown, the share of new homes with patios increased for the sixth year in a row in 2021, to a post-2004 high of 63.0 percent  At the same time, the share with decks was trending in the opposite direction, declining for the fifth year in a row to a post-2004 low.  Of the roughly 1.1 million single-family homes started in 2021, only 17.5 percent included decks, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by…

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 42 states in October compared to the previous month while eight states and the District of Columbia lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 in October, following a gain of 315,000 jobs in September. On a month-over-month basis, employment data was strong in California, which… Read More ›

NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building expanded during the third quarter of 2022 despite broader market weakness. There were 59,000 total custom building starts during the third quarter of the year. This marks a 5% increase compared to the third quarter of 2021 in terms of year-over-year change…. Read More ›

As higher mortgage rates continue to weaken housing demand, the volume of existing home sales has declined for nine consecutive months as of October, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the longest run of declines since 1999. The average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate increased from 3.11% at the start of the year to 6.61% this… Read More ›

The Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Construction (SOC) shows slight changes in the number of full and half bathrooms for new single-family homes started in 2021 compared to 2020. The current data shows that 3.1% of new single-family homes started had one full bathroom or less, 62.6% had 2 full bathrooms, 27.0% had 3 full bathrooms and 7.3% had 4 or more full bathrooms. Figure 1 shows how the share of new single-family home starts by full bathrooms has changed…

According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the third quarter of 2022 single-family attached starts totaled 38,000, which is 12% higher than the third quarter of 2021. Over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 152,000 units, 7% higher than the prior four quarter total (142,000). However, these… Read More ›

Single-family built-for-rent construction leveled off during the third quarter of 2022 as the overall housing market slowed. This occurred after an exceptionally strong second quarter for rental housing production. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 16,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the third quarter of 2022…. Read More ›

Elevated mortgage rates, high construction costs for concrete and other building materials, and weakening demand stemming from deteriorating affordability conditions continue to act as a drag on single-family housing production. Overall housing starts decreased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units in October, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and… Read More ›

Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing declined significantly in the third quarter of 2022, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) decreased 10 points to 32 compared to the previous quarter while the Multifamily Occupancy… Read More ›