Residential Construction Spending Increased by 2.2% in February
Good news! Private residential construction spending increased by 2.2% in February (compared to January). It’s not a big gain, but according to Eye on Housing, residential construction activity is more than 20% above its year-ago level and about 36% higher than the cyclical low in mid-2011.
Watch Out for Raising Building Materials Prices
According to the Eye on Housing blog, the cost of building materials have increased quickly. This is the result of the housing recovery that has gained momentum since the start of 2012. Overall producer prices have increased by less than 3%. On the other hand, softwood lumber (30%), OSB (80%) and gypsum (26%) prices are […]
Home Buyers’ Top Ten Most Wanted and Unwanted Lists
According to a recently released study by the NAHB Economics Group, What Home Buyers Really Want, energy efficiency is at the top of home buyers’ most wanted list. In the study, 94% of home buyers want energy-star rated appliances, 91% want an energy-star rating for the whole home, 89% want energy-star rated windows, and 88% […]
Sales of New Homes Increased by 45.3% in the West
According to the latest figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new homes increased in January by 28.9% from a year ago, and 15.6% since December. On an annual seasonally-adjusted basis, newly built, single-family homes sold at a 437,000 pace. New home sales increased in every region. The West had the biggest […]
Top Issues for Builders: costs of materials, labor and lots
According to a recent NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey, 76% of builders expect building materials prices to be a major problem in 2013. This is up significantly from 46% in 2012 and 33% in 2011.
Top Ten Northwest Cities for Builders
Ten northwest cities are listed in the latest National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). The NAHB/First American IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The northwest cities in the index are Corvallis, Medford, Portland, Bellingham, Kennewick, Longview, Seattle, Spokane, Wenatchee, […]
NAHB Forecasts Further Growth for Home Building Industry
More good news for the home building industry. According to the latest NAHB Economics housing and economic forecast, single-family and multifamily construction will see strong growth rates, with remodeling experiencing lesser but still positive growth.
Construction Industry is Looking Good – housing starts increased by 12.1%
Good news for the construction industry. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, single-family and multifamily housing starts increased by 12.1% to 954,000 units last month. This is the highest rate in more than four years. Single-family housing starts jumped by 8.1% to 616,000 units in December. Multifamily construction fared even better with an increase of […]
January 2013 NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index Remains Steady
The latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index was released today. Builders’ confidence remained at the same level (47) as last month. The index continues to hold at its highest level since April of 2006. The three-month moving average for the West increased by four points to 51.