A new guide co-published by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC) helps industry professional navigate the 2018 International Residential Code. Available through BuilderBooks, NAHB’s publishing arm, the 2018 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Quick Guide to the 2018 International Residential Code, is a portable guide for home builders, contractors, inspectors, architects, engineers and other construction professionals.

This invaluable resource covers the impact of the 2018 code changes to fire-resistant walls separating townhouses, emergency escape and rescue openings in basements, safety glazing adjacent to doors and bottom stair landings, and more.

Written by Stephen A. Van Note, the 2018 Home Builders’ Jobsite Code helps readers understand specific code requirement such as update requirements for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms and introduces helpful wood deck provisions.

The field guide includes a glossary that provides definitions of construction-related terms and more than 100 detailed illustrations and useful tables and discussion on other areas of the code, including:

• foundations
• fire safety
• energy efficiency
• mechanical systems
• safe and healthy living environments

Stephen A. Van Note is a certified building official and plans examiner with more than 15 years of experience in code administration and enforcement and more than 20 years of experience in the construction field, including project planning and management for residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

The 2018 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes is meant to be of practical use on the jobsite, not as a substitute for the complete codes.

To purchase the new 2018 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes: A Quick Guide to the 2018 International Residential Code, please visit BuilderBooks.com or call 1-800-888-4741. (ISBN 978-086718-768-7; Retail $23.95/NAHB Member $21.95).

[Editor’s Note: Editors who are interested in receiving a complimentary copy of the 2018 Home Builders’ Jobsite Codes to review for their publications should contact Patricia Potts at ppotts@nahb.org.]

The majority of single-family and multifamily housing production in the nation is occurring in counties with the greatest concentration of millennials. However, in a warning sign that the housing affordability crisis persists and more construction is needed, the pace of housing production in areas with the greatest concentration of millennials lags the rest of the nation, according to the latest quarterly National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI).

The third quarterly release of the HBGI sheds new light on the housing market by focusing on where millennials live. “Millennial counties” are defined as geographic areas where at least 26 percent of the population consists of this growing demographic group. These millennial counties are diverse, representing major metro areas including several California markets, Seattle, Portland, Boston and Washington, D.C., as well as more rural counties in places such as Ohio, Kansas and Missouri.

The HBGI found that those counties with elevated millennial shares account for 62 percent of the entire U.S. population. These counties also account for 59 percent of single-family home building nationwide. “On the surface, these numbers look similar, but you would expect the single-family construction share to be higher in millennial intensive areas, which tend to feature greater amounts of household formation and population growth that require additional housing,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

“The HBGI highlights the ongoing challenge of housing supply, particularly for younger households seeking affordable rental housing or attempting to gain a toe-hold on the homeownership ladder,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “While counties that have greater concentrations of millennials are where most of the single-family and multifamily construction in the U.S. is occurring, those same areas have recently seen relatively weaker growth rates for home construction.”

“The new NAHB HBGI data shows two consecutive quarters of declines for single-family construction in counties with larger numbers of millennials, the very areas that most need additional home construction,” said Dietz. “These localities are more acutely affected by supply-side constraints due to the greater demand for inventory resulting from the relatively younger population that resides there.”

Meanwhile, multifamily construction in millennial counties—which accounts for 80 percent of all apartment activity nationwide—picked up in the third quarter, though the improved growth rate was slower than the nationwide pace. “The outsized concentration of multifamily construction in areas with a large proportion of millennials is not a surprise, but it is also a reminder of the mismatch between housing wants and housing availability that is challenging the for-sale market,” Dietz noted.

The HBGI is a quarterly measurement of building conditions across the country and uses county-level information about single- and multifamily permits to gauge housing construction growth in various urban and rural regions.

Other findings in the third quarter HBGI:

• Growth in single-family construction was insufficient to keep pace with demand in the third quarter of 2019, continuing along a weaker trend due to the housing downturn from last year.
• Apartment construction is leveling off nationally but spreading out geographically, as multifamily building showed some gains in less densely populated areas, such as small towns and rural counties.
• Apartment construction in large metro core and large metro suburban areas rebounded in the third quarter, reflecting the highest growth rates in these regions in two years.
• Weakness in manufacturing areas continues to limit home construction. Manufacturing counties’ share of multifamily home construction decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 6.3 percent, while single-family construction declined at a faster rate in such areas compared to non-manufacturing areas.
• A slow shift of single-family construction from close-in suburbs to exurban locations continues due to land and lot availability and cost. This market environment, made worse by inefficient zoning practices and regulatory burdens, will continue to create a mismatch between where housing demand is growing and where housing supply can be affordably realized.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes decreased 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733,000 units in October, off strong upward revisions to the September reading, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. On a year-to-date basis, new home sales for 2019 are 9.6 percent higher than the same period in 2018. Moreover, the past two months represent the highest monthly sales rate since October 2007.

“Forty-five percent of homes sold in October were priced below $300,000, which is an indication that more millennial buyers are taking advantage of low mortgage rates and entering into the marketplace,” said Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, and a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn.

“For-sale inventory remains tight as this marks the third consecutive month below a six-month supply,” said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB’s Assistant Vice President of Forecasting and Analysis. “The low inventory rates show there is a need for added construction to meet growing demand.”

A new home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed or a deposit is accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. In addition to adjusting for seasonal effects, the October reading of 733,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months.

The inventory of new homes for sale was 322,000 in October, representing a 5.3 months’ supply. The median sales price was $316,700. The median price of a new home sale a year earlier was $328,300.

Regionally, and on a year-to-date basis, new home sales are 15.7 percent higher in the South and 9.1 percent higher in the West. Sales are down 11.1 percent in the Northeast and 7.5 percent in the Midwest.

Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market rose one point in the third quarter of 2019, returning to its record-high reading of 72, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. This is the highest reading since the inception of the index in 2008.

The 55+ HMI measures two segments of the 55+ housing market: single-family homes and multifamily condominiums. Each segment of the 55+ HMI measures builder sentiment based on a survey that asks if current sales, prospective buyer traffic and anticipated six-month sales for that market are good, fair or poor (high, average or low for traffic).

“The 55+ market has been supported by strong demand as aging Baby Boomers continue to seek downsized homes, but with higher end features and amenities,” said Karen Schroeder, chair of NAHB’s 55+ Housing Industry Council and vice president of Mayberry Homes in East Lansing, Mich. “While conditions remain positive, headwinds such as labor shortages and rising construction costs are still dampening the market a bit.”

For the three index components of the 55+ single-family HMI, present sales rose two points to 78, expected sales for the next six months dropped one point to 77 and traffic of prospective buyers fell one point to 55.

The 55+ multifamily condo HMI decreased six points to 53. All three index components posted declines from the previous quarter: Present sales fell five points to 56, expected sales for the next six months dropped nine points to 56 and traffic of prospective buyers declined three points to 47.

Three of the four components of the 55+ multifamily rental market dropped in the third quarter: Present production dropped seven points to 57, future expected production fell nine points to 55 and present demand for existing units fell one point to 72. Future demand however, rose one point to 74.

“Demand for 55+ single-family housing remains strong, mirroring the gains we have seen in the overall market, which has been largely supported by low interest rates and healthy job growth,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Sentiment about the 55+ multifamily market declined somewhat this quarter, but on balance remains positive. A modest decline was not surprising, given the post-Great recession record number of apartments currently under construction.”

For the full 55+ HMI tables, please visit nahb.org/55hmi.