Eye On Housing

• Vinyl and Stucco are the Most Common Siding On New Homes
  The most common exterior wall materials on homes started in 2017 were vinyl and siding. Vinyl siding was used on 27 percent of the new homes started in 2017, followed closely by stucco (25 percent), brick or brick veneer (21 percent), and fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) (20 percent). Far smaller shares of […]
• Existing Sales Steady
  Existing-home sales were unchanged in August, and are 1.5% below the level a year ago. The first-time buyer share of 31% was down from 32% last month and unchanged from a year ago. The National Association of Realtors reported that 52% of homes sold in August were on the market less than a month. The […]
• Housing Starts Rise in August
  Total housing starts posted a gain in August, led by a jump in multifamily production. However, weaker single-family permit data and expected disruption effects from Hurricane Florence will place downward pressure on starts data next month. Total housing starts increased 9.2% in August and are 6.9% higher for 2018 than in 2017 on a year-to-date […]
• Builder Confidence Remains Firm in September
  Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes remained unchanged at a solid 67 reading in September on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Despite rising affordability concerns, builders continue to report firm demand for housing, especially as millennials and other newcomers enter the market. The recent decline in […]
• Western and Southern States Posts Single-Family Residential Permits Growth
  Over the first seven months of 2018, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 521,438. On a year-over-year basis, this is a 7.0% increase over the July 2017 level of 487,495. The preliminary results from the New Residential Construction Survey are similar, year-to-date single-family permits over the first seven months of […]
• Lumber, OSB Prices Retreat in August as Gypsum Reaches New High
  Residential construction goods input prices declined, on average, in August as large monthly increases and decreases offset each other, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the index for inputs to residential construction fell by 0.5% (not seasonally adjusted), it has increased more than twice as […]
• A Modest Increase in the “Core” CPI in August
  The CPI increased by 2.7% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate while the “core” CPI rose modestly in August. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.7% in August, after the 2.1% increase in July. Excluding the volatile food and energy […]
• Women in Construction
  Women remain underrepresented in the construction industry, although they currently make up almost half (47 percent) of the total working population. The share of women employed in construction has stayed relatively constant, around 9 percent since 2002. Women play a number of roles in the construction industry, such as administrative, professional, managerial, construction, and production […]
• Construction Job Openings Rise Again in July
  The count of unfilled jobs in the construction sector increased in July, reaching yet another post-Great Recession high level. The rate of open construction sector jobs also matched a prior cyclical high. According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs increased to 273,000 in […]
• Labor and Subcontractor Costs Outpacing Inflation, Raising Home Prices
  Last Thursday’s post reported on the record share of single-family builders reporting shortages of labor and subcontractors.in the July survey for the NAHB/Well Fargo Housing Market Index. The same survey asked builders about the effects the shortages were having on their businesses.  The most widespread effects were causing builders to pay higher wages/subcontractor bids (reported […]