Articles

Just under 1.6 million housing units were started last year, the best performance since before the Great Recession. While much has been written about the strength of the single-family market, often overlooked is that the almost half million multifamily homes started in 2021 was the highest number since 1986. The rental rebound in part reflects the rapid growth in for-sale house prices, as well as lack of inventory in the for-sale market, which has kept many renters from buying homes. Read More

Total existing-home sales climbed 6.7% from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.50 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. Year-over-year, sales fell 2.3% (6.65 million in January 2021). Read More

Driven by strong buyer demand and the expectation of higher mortgage rates, new home sales ended the year on a strong note, reaching their highest level since March 2021. Read More

Privately‐owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,638,000, 4.1% below the revised December estimate of 1,708,000 but 0.8% above the January 2021 rate of 1,625,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes moved one point lower to 82 in February, marking the second straight month that confidence levels have declined by a single point, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Despite these monthly declines, the HMI has posted very solid readings at or above the 80-point mark for the past five months. Read More

Construction input prices rose 3.5% in January compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 3.1% for the month. Read More

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes moved one point lower to 82 in February, marking the second straight month that confidence levels have declined by a single point, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Despite strong buyer demand, builder sentiment continued to slip in February as the industry grapples with ongoing building material production bottlenecks that are raising construction costs and delaying projects. Read More

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2022 were $649.8 billion, an increase of 3.8% from the previous month and 13.0% above January 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Read More

Home buyer preferences have continued to reverse trends in home building as builders work to respond to new interests in the wake of COVID-19, according to reports from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Read More

“There has been research that shows consumers will purchase an area rug within a very short time after installing hard surface flooring,” reported T.M. Nuckols, president of The Dixie Group (TDG). Read More