Last week’s post reported on first-time home buyers from the February survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).   According to the same source, second homes (i.e., homes sold to buyers who are not going to occupy the home year-round, but use it as a vacation home, investment property, etc.) account for 15 percent of new single-family home sales. … Read More ›

Since the start of 2021, the MBA’s tracked 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate has increased 40 basis points and currently stands at 3.28%. The week that showing the largest gains over the last month was the week ending February 26, increasing by 15 basis points. The previous week (i.e., the week ending February 19) saw an increase of 10 basis… Read More ›

Housing production continue to slow in February off strong levels as rising lumber and other material prices continue to affect the housing industry. Overall housing starts decreased 10.3% percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The February reading of… Read More ›

Over the first month of 2021, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 83,921. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 19.2% increase over the January 2020 level of 70,386. Year-to-date ending in January, single-family permits reported increases in all four regions. The relatively more affordable Midwest reported the strongest increase of 21.5%, followed by… Read More ›

Last week, we published a post highlighting a continuing high reliance of construction on immigrant workers that now account for 24% of the construction work force. The share is much higher, reaching 30%, among construction tradesmen. In some states, reliance on foreign-born labor is even more pronounced with immigrants comprising close to 40% of the construction workforce in California and… Read More ›