Slowing Multifamily Building Market Holds Elevated Built-for-Rent Share

By Housing
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts declined significantly during the first quarter of 2024. For the quarter, 80,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 75,000 were built-for-rent. This marks a notable 39% decline from the first quarter of 2023 for the multifamily built-for-rent category. The…

Year-over-Year Gains for Single-Family Built-for-Rent Starts

By Housing
Single-family built-for-rent construction posted year-over-year gains as of the first quarter of 2024, as builders sought to add additional rental housing in a market facing ongoing, elevated mortgage interest rates. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 18,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts…

A Strong Quarter for Townhouse Construction

By Housing
Year-over-year gains for townhouse construction continued at the start of 2024 as demand for medium-density housing continues to be strong. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the first quarter of 2024, single-family attached starts totaled 42,000, which is 45% higher than the first quarter…

Higher Interest Rates Keep Single-Family Housing Starts Flat in April

By Housing
Single-family starts remained flat in April as mortgage interest rates moved above 7% last month and builders continued to face tight lending conditions. Overall housing starts increased 5.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the…

Top Compromises Buyers Will Make to Reach Homeownership

By Housing
High mortgage rates and double-digit growth in home prices since COVID-19 have brought housing affordability to its lowest level in more than a decade.  Given this reality, a recent NAHB study on housing preferences* asked home buyers about which specific compromises they would be willing to make to achieve homeownership. For 39% of buyers, accepting…

Credit for Builders Tightens Slightly, Remains Costly

By Housing
During the first quarter of 2024, credit for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) tightened slightly and remained costly, according to NAHB’s survey on AD&C Financing. The net easing index derived from the survey posted a reading of -22.0 (the negative number indicating that credit availability tightened in the first quarter compared to the…