As rising mortgage rates and higher home prices weighed on housing affordability, existing home sales declined for five consecutive months, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The trend in home price appreciation continued albeit at a slower rate as supply finally showed sign of improvement. The median existing home prices in June continued to surpass $400,000, the highest… Read More ›
Increased interest rates, building material supply chain bottlenecks and elevated construction costs continue to put a damper on the single-family housing market. For the first time since June 2020, both single-family starts and permits fell below a one million annual pace. Overall housing starts fell 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.56 million units in June from an… Read More ›
The prices of goods used in residential construction climbed 1.5% in June (not seasonally adjusted) even as softwood lumber prices fell 23%, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. Prices have surged 41.7% since January 2020. Building materials (i.e., goods inputs to residential construction, less energy) prices have increased 4.8%, year-to-date, and are 12.2% higher than they were… Read More ›
Builder confidence plunged in July as high inflation and increased interest rates stalled the housing market by dramatically slowing sales and buyer traffic. In a further sign of a weakening housing market, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes posted its seventh straight monthly decline in July, falling 12 points to 55, according to the National Association… Read More ›
Over the first five months of 2022, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 473,997. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 2.0% decline over the May 2021 level of 483,878. Year-to-date ending in May, single-family permits declined in three out of the four regions. The South posted a moderate increase of 1.0% while the… Read More ›
Since the relatively low point at the onset of the pandemic on April 17, 2020, lumber prices have been volatile, with record setting spikes interspersed with periods of substantial declines. On balance over the entire period, however, softwood lumber prices have increased enough to add $14,345 to the price of an average new single-family home, and $5,511 to the market… Read More ›
