Consumer prices picked up again in January while core prices remained elevated, especially housing costs. Despite a slowdown in the year-over-year increase, shelter costs continue to put upward pressure on inflation, accounting for over two-thirds of the total increase in all items excluding food and energy. This hotter-than-expected report will almost certainly delay Fed rate cuts until the second half… Read More ›

According to the Federal Reserve Board’s January 2024 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS), lending standards loosened for all commercial real estate (CRE) loan categories and residential real estate (RRE) categories in the fourth quarter of 2023.  Demand for RRE and CRE loans improved across all categories over the quarter, except for government loans. Even though the federal funds rate remained unchanged,… Read More ›

The median age of owner-occupied homes is 40 years old, according to the latest data from the 2022 American Community Survey[1]. The U.S. owner-occupied housing stock is aging rapidly especially after the Great Recession, as the residential construction continues to fall behind in the number of new homes built. New home construction faces headwinds such as rising material costs, labor… Read More ›

New NAHB analysis of single-family permits shows which Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) have been trending in the same direction as U.S. single-family permits. Using single-family permits from 2012-2022, five-year and ten-year correlations are used to create an association index for each MSA that describes how similar, or dissimilar, particular MSAs are when compared to the national trend. The post focuses… Read More ›

Mortgage rates that hit more than a 20-year high, coupled with elevated construction costs and excessive regulatory costs, left housing affordability in the fourth quarter of 2023 virtually unchanged from the previous quarter and holding near its lowest level in more than a decade. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), just 37.7%… Read More ›

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new 30-year population growth projections that include substantial upward revisions to the net immigration rates and slightly lower projected rates of mortality from COVID-19. As a result, the revised population estimates now include an additional 8.9 million people in 2053, a 2.4% increase from its previous forecast. A faster growing population will undoubtedly increase… Read More ›

Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending February 2nd, total mortgage activity increased 3.7% from the previous week, and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate rose two basis points to 6.80%. The 30-year FRM has floated around 6.8% for much of the start of the year, only moving one basis point from January. Total mortgage… Read More ›

The latest CPS/HVS data shows that the overall homeownership rate was 65.7% in the last quarter of 2023. This was 3.5 percentage points lower from the peak of 69.4% in 2004. In this post, we focus on the homeownership rates by race and ethnicity over the past decade. According to data from the Census Bureau, homeownership in the U.S. varies… Read More ›

According to the data released by Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), private fixed investment in student dormitories inched up 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $3.96 billion in the last quarter of 2023, after a 5.5% increase in the third quarter. Private fixed investment in dorms was 10.2% higher than a year ago, but still slightly below… Read More ›

Initially designed and built for the 1995 Parade of Homes in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this 4082-square-foot spec house was sold before the beginning of the parade.  A similar model was sold before the framing was up. According to architect/builder Michael Dankbar. The home is situated on a 19,000-square-foot corner lot among large trees and winding roads in Bixby’s Stanford Elm’s Development.  The style is a skillful blend of traditional Country French and Country English architecture.  Featuring a combinationof dry-stacked stone veneer,…