Continuing its tightening of financial conditions to bring the rate of inflation lower, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 75 basis points, increasing that target to an upper bound of 2.5%. This move matches the June rate hike as the largest increase for the funds rate since 1994. While committing to a policy… Read More ›
NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the four-quarter moving average (MA) share of new home sales financed through FHA was 11.0% in Q2 2022–its smallest share since early 2008. Conventional loans financed 74.8% of new home sales in the second quarter of 2022—a 1.8 percentage point quarter-over-quarter decline…. Read More ›
The share of adults planning a home purchase within a year stood at 13% in the second quarter of 2022, unchanged from the previous quarter, but lower than a year earlier (17%). The leveled reading suggests that, after shrinking for the past three quarters, the pool of potential home buyers may have stabilized. Part of the reason housing demand has… Read More ›
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states in June compared to the previous month while 11 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs. Rhode Island reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000 in June, following a gain of 384,000 jobs in May. On a month-over-month basis, employment data… Read More ›
Lumber prices have been on a roller-coaster ride over the past two years and reached to an all-time high price of $1,515 per thousand board feed in the week ending May 21, 2021, as reported by Random Lengths. However, despite higher lumber prices and ongoing supply-chain issues, wood framing remains the most dominant construction method for single-family homes in the… Read More ›
The 2021 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 8.2 months, which typically includes a little over a month from authorization to start and another 7.1 months to finish the construction. Moreover, it took approximately 12 days more in 2021 than in 2020, as supply-side challenges persisted… Read More ›
