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Single-family starts showed continued growth in August but overall housing production fell 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units due to a double-digit percentage decline in multifamily production, according to a report from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and Commerce Department. The pace of single-family starts in August was the highest production rate since February. Read More

"Historic traffic numbers have builders seeing positive market conditions, but many in the industry are worried about rising costs and delays for building materials, especially lumber," said NAHB chairman Chuck Fowke, a custom home builder from Tampa, Fla. "More domestic lumber production or tariff relief is needed to avoid a slowdown in the market in the coming months." Read More

While the broader economy saw a decline of 3.3 percent, spending on nonresidential buildings dropped 10 times that amount, a whopping 32.6 percent decline before the market began to recover well after the national economic recession had ended. Nonresidential building construction tends to expand more than the overall economy during upturns and fall further during downturns. Read More

Personal income increased 0.4 percent while consumer spending increased 1.9 percent in July. Read More

Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 31.7 percent in the second quarter of 2020, according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Read More

Consumers are being driven by low interest rates, a growing focus on the importance of housing and a shift in buyers seeking homes in lower density areas," said Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Tampa, Fla. "Despite these positive conditions, affordability challenges remain especially as builders are dealing with building cost increases, including a dramatic rise in lumber costs in recent months." Read More

"Our distributor members have weathered the worst of the storm and are now seeing their businesses continue to grow each month," commented Kevin Gammonley, NAFCD executive vice president. "The negative impact of the shutdown has not been as severe as initially feared." Read More

"The multifamily market continues to make its way back toward pre-pandemic levels, with recent starts data coming in above forecast," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. "Demand remains subdued due to elevated unemployment rates, while on the supply-side of the market builders and developers are dealing with a significant increase in lumber prices, which could hinder further recovery of the market." Read More

"Strong builder confidence and heavy buyer traffic point to further production gains in the near term, but the more than 110 percent jump in lumber prices since mid-April is adding approximately $14,000 to the cost of each new single-family home," said Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Tampa, Fla. Read More

"The demand for new single-family homes continues to be strong, as low interest rates and a focus on the importance of housing has stoked buyer traffic to all-time highs as measured on the HMI," said NAHB chairman Chuck Fowke, a custom home builder from Tampa, Fla. "However, the V-shaped recovery for housing has produced a staggering increase for lumber prices, which have more than doubled since mid-April. Such cost increases could dampen momentum in the housing market this fall, despite historically low interest rates." Read More