RSS Eye On Housing

  • Garages in New Homes: 2018 Data
    A majority of new homes that completed construction in 2018 included two-car garages (64%), according to NAHB analysis of 2018 Census Bureau Survey of Construction data. There is clear uniformity for parking options in new homes completed across the Census divisions. Except for West North Central division, the 2-car garage was the largest share of completed […]
  • Revolving Debt Expands in October
    The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows rising trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through October 2019. In October, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 percent from the previous month, with revolving debt1 increasing by 8.8 percent and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 4.3 percent. […]
  • Basements Continue to Fall Out of Favor
    NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that 60.1% of all new single-family started in 2018 were built on slab foundations, followed by 24.3% with a full/partial basement, and 14.3% with a crawl space. The gap between slab and full/partial basement foundation adoption rates is growing: the share of new homes built on […]
  • Millennial Housing Demand and Regional Building Trends: 3Q19 HBGI
    Supply and resulting affordability challenges for millennials were highlighted in the most recent NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). The third quarter HBGI also offers more region-specific insights of single- and multifamily home building trends, including their connections to millennial-intensive areas. Single-family home building in rural areas posted a solid growth rate of 1.1% for […]
  • Strong Job Growth in November
    Total payroll employment increased by 266,000 in November, while the unemployment rate declined to 3.5%. Residential construction employment was little changed (-500) in November, after an increase of 5,400 jobs in October (revised). Total construction industry (both residential and nonresidential) employment totaled about 7.5 million in November. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Employment […]
  • Specialty Rooms Wanted by Millennial Home Buyers
    A laundry room is the most popular specialty room (anything other than a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen) among Millennial home buyers, with 86 percent of them reporting that it is a desirable (36 percent) or essential/must have (50 percent) room (Figure 1). This data comes from a recent NAHB report, What Home Buyers Really Want […]
  • Air Conditioning and Heating Systems in New Homes
    The Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) provides valuable information on the characteristics of new homes started construction, such as air conditioning and heating system installations. In 2018, 93.7 percent of new single-family homes started had a central AC system, almost the same share as in 2017 (93.5 percent). The trend, going back to 2000, shows a […]
  • Mortgage Application Volume Declines
    In the latest tally of mortgage activity, for the week ending November 29, 2019, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Application Survey showed a 7.5% drop from the previous week in conventional mortgage activity, which includes both purchases and refinances, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Overall, the market composite index, which includes conventional mortgages, saw a […]
  • New Homes Built with Private Wells and Individual Septic Systems in 2018
    NAHB Economics analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) data shows that about 9% of new single-family homes started in 2018 were served by individual wells and almost 16% have private septic systems. These shares, however, vary widely across the nine Census divisions with the corresponding shares reaching 31% and 37% in New England – […]
  • Millennial Areas Front and Center to Housing Affordability Challenges
    The third cut of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) defines “Millennial counties” as those having at least a 26% share of total population belonging to the Millennial generation (born between 1981-1997). The top 25% of counties with a high millennial concentration represent 62% of the U.S. population. These counties also constitute 59% and 80% […]
Scroll to Top