After reaching the 12-month high last month, existing home sales retreated in March due to lingering high mortgage rates, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Meanwhile, low resale inventory and strong demand continued to drive up existing home prices, marking the ninth consecutive…
Half of payroll workers in construction earn more than $58,500 and the top 25% make at least $79,450, according to the latest May 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In…
As economist Milton Friedman once quipped, monetary policy has a history of operating with “long and variable lags.”[1] What Friedman was expressing is that it takes some time for the true effects of monetary policy, like the changing of the federal funds rate, to permeate…
According to the latest What Home Buyers Really Want Study*, the vast majority of home buyers are looking for a home with at least one home office (or space dedicated to work/study). More specifically, 66% would prefer to buy a home with exactly one home…
Housing starts fell in March with interest rates somewhat higher than expected last month as the latest inflation readings failed to show improvement. Builders are also still facing higher supply-side costs and tighter lending conditions. Overall housing starts decreased 14.7% in March to a seasonally…
An earlier post based on the report The Building Sustainably: Green & Resilient Single- Family Homes 2024 SmartMarket Brief focused on the prevalence of green home building. This post will examine commonly used practices in green building. This is the second part of a four-part…
Builder sentiment was flat in April as mortgage rates remained close to 7% over the past month and the latest inflation data failed to show improvement during the first quarter of 2024. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 51 in…
