Builder confidence inched up in September on lower lumber prices and strong housing demand, even as the housing sector continues to grapple with building material supply chain issues and labor challenges. Ending a three-month decline, builder sentiment in the market for newly built single-family homes edged up one point to 76 in September, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today.
Over the first seven months of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 681,949. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 29.7% increase over the July 2020 level of 525,623. Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits increased in all four regions. The Northeast region reported the strongest increase of 32.2%, followed by the South… Read More ›
House Democrats are working to draft a $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan that includes onerous tax hikes of $2 trillion and aggressive energy efficiency requirements in model building energy codes that would harm housing affordability. This ambitious plan also contains several other elements of interest to the housing community.
