>>5520810

New Home Sales End the Year Up 1.5 Percent

The sales report was delayed due to the partial government shutdown.

“The slight gain for 2018 new home sales reflects solid underlying demand for homeownership,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “Housing affordability remains a challenge across the country, but conditions have improved in early 2019, as illustrated by the recent uptick in builder confidence.”

“Despite a period of weakness in the fall, new home sales ended the year with a small gain,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “While the December sales pace improved on a monthly basis, the current rate of sales remains off the post-Great Recession trend due to housing affordability concerns made worse by the rise in mortgage interest rates at the end of the year. We expect lower mortgage rates in the early months of 2019 will lead to additional new home 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 December reading of 621,000 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 continued to rise in December to 344,000 homes available for sale. A year prior, new single-family home inventory stood at 294,000. The median sales price increased in December to $318,600, although it is lower than a year ago when the median sales price was $343,300. This is primarily due to the rising use of price incentives and a slow change toward additional entry-level inventory.

Regionally, on a total year basis for 2018, new home sales declined 16 percent in the Northeast and one percent in the West. Sales rose four percent in the South and six percent in the Midwest.

https://www.nahb.org/en/news-and-publications/press-releases/2019/02/new-home-sales-end-the-year-up-one-point-five-percent.aspx

>>5521514

Housing Starts Down 11.2 Percent in December; Post Yearly Gain

February 26, 2019

Housing starts fell 11.2 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department that was delayed due to the partial government shutdown. Multifamily starts fell 20.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 320,000 units while single-family production posted a 6.7 percent decline to 758,000 units.

However, single-family and multifamily starts each posted a yearly gain. Single-family production was up 2.8 percent in 2018 to a rate of 872,800, the highest annual figure since the Great Recession. Multifamily starts posted a 5.5 percent gain in 2018 to 373,700 units.

“Looking back, the December drop in housing production correlated with the peak increase in mortgage rates and corresponding decline in builder sentiment,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “During that time, builders adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach as demonstrated in the rise of single-family and multifamily units that were permitted but not under construction.”

“Looking ahead, we expect single-family production will be relatively flat in 2019 and multifamily starts will level off as well,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The biggest challenge facing builders this year will be ongoing housing affordability concerns as they continue to grapple with a shortage of construction workers, a lack of buildable lots and excessive regulatory burdens.”

Overall permits—which are an indicator of future housing production—inched up 0.3 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million. Single-family permits fell 2.2 percent to an 829,000 unit pace in December while multifamily permits increased 4.9 percent to an annualized rate of 497,000.

For 2018, single-family permits posted a 4 percent gain of 852,700 over the previous year while multifamily permits edged down 0.9 percent to 458,000.

Regionally in December, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were unchanged in the Northeast. Starts fell 26.3 percent in the West, 13.2 percent in the Midwest and 6 percent in the South.

Overall permit issuance in December rose 17.1 percent in the West. Permits were down 6 percent in the Northeast, 17.6 percent in the Midwest and 2 percent in the South.

https://www.nahb.org/en/news-and-publications/press-releases/2019/02/housing-starts-down-11-point-2-percent-in-december-post-yearly-gain.aspx

>>5520810

Notable update

Housing Starts Down 11.2 Percent in December; Post Yearly Gain

February 26, 2019

Housing starts fell 11.2 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department that was delayed due to the partial government shutdown. Multifamily starts fell 20.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 320,000 units while single-family production posted a 6.7 percent decline to 758,000 units.

However, single-family and multifamily starts each posted a yearly gain. Single-family production was up 2.8 percent in 2018 to a rate of 872,800, the highest annual figure since the Great Recession. Multifamily starts posted a 5.5 percent gain in 2018 to 373,700 units.

“Looking back, the December drop in housing production correlated with the peak increase in mortgage rates and corresponding decline in builder sentiment,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “During that time, builders adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach as demonstrated in the rise of single-family and multifamily units that were permitted but not under construction.”

“Looking ahead, we expect single-family production will be relatively flat in 2019 and multifamily starts will level off as well,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The biggest challenge facing builders this year will be ongoing housing affordability concerns as they continue to grapple with a shortage of construction workers, a lack of buildable lots and excessive regulatory burdens.”

Overall permits—which are an indicator of future housing production—inched up 0.3 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million. Single-family permits fell 2.2 percent to an 829,000 unit pace in December while multifamily permits increased 4.9 percent to an annualized rate of 497,000.

For 2018, single-family permits posted a 4 percent gain of 852,700 over the previous year while multifamily permits edged down 0.9 percent to 458,000.

Regionally in December, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were unchanged in the Northeast. Starts fell 26.3 percent in the West, 13.2 percent in the Midwest and 6 percent in the South.

Overall permit issuance in December rose 17.1 percent in the West. Permits were down 6 percent in the Northeast, 17.6 percent in the Midwest and 2 percent in the South.

March 05, 2019

New Home Sales End the Year Up 1.5 Percent

Sales of newly built, single-family homes posted a yearly gain of 1.5 percent in 2018, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Hous…

https://www.nahb.org/en/news-and-publications/press-releases/2019/02/housing-starts-down-11-point-2-percent-in-december-post-yearly-gain.aspx