According to NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC), new single-family starts decreased in 2022. Nationally, 1,018,495 new single-family units started construction in 2022, 10% fewer than the number of units started in 2021. It marked the first decrease since 2011 but was still the second highest count since the Great Recession. Among all nine Census divisions, the South… Read More ›

In June, national home prices continued to increase. Limited inventory and solid but weakened demand put upward pressure on home prices, despite rising mortgage rates. Locally, all 20 metro areas, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had positive home price appreciation in June. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at… Read More ›

The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy continued to moved lower in July, falling to 8.8 million. While certain inflation readings have raised the likelihood of a September Federal Reserve interest rate increase, the JOLTS survey is another data point indicating an ongoing but gradual cooling of macro conditions due to elevated interest rates. The count of… Read More ›

Wood framing remains the most dominant construction method for single-family homes in the U.S., according to NAHB analysis of 2022 Census Bureau data. For 2022 completions, 94% of new homes were wood-framed, another 6% were concrete-framed homes, and less than half a percent was steel-framed. On a count basis, there were 956,000 wood-framed homes completed in 2022. This was a… Read More ›

Interest rates on loans for Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) continued to climb in the second quarter of 2023, according to NAHB’s quarterly Survey on AD&C Financing.  Quarter-over-quarter, the contract interest rate increased on all four categories of loans tracked in the AD&C Survey: from 8.50% to 8.62% on loans for land acquisition, from 8.19% to 8.70% on loans for… Read More ›

Data from the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Market Absorptions of New Multifamily Units (SOMA) indicates that demand for newly completed multifamily units remains solid as mortgage rates continue to climb. Only an estimated 39% of the 82,310 unfurnished apartment units completed in the first quarter of 2023 are available for rent three months past construction completion. For condominiums, an… Read More ›

The residential remodeling market has grown rapidly in the past few years, mainly fueled by changes in housing and lifestyle decisions during the pandemic period. According to National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), expenditures for residential home improvements soared 13% to $328 billion in 2021, from $289 billion in 2020. This marks the largest gain since 1993 (16% increase). Solid… Read More ›

Low existing inventory and solid demand more than offset rising mortgage rates and elevated construction costs to boost new home sales last month. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in July increased 4.4% to a 714,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading in June, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban… Read More ›

Northbrook is a classically styled lakefront cottage. In any waterfront home, views are always of upmost importance, but what allows this home to stand out is that the often-prominent garage is used as an asset to shape the home rather than an unavoidable detriment. Because the garage is centered on the front of the home, the living space could be designed around it and access prioritized views of the lakefront. The master wing occupies one side of the home, while…

The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. The multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has disappointed since the Great Recession. For the second quarter of 2023, there were just 3,000 2- to 4-unit housing unit construction starts. This is down from a year prior…. Read More ›