Tag Archives: Census Bureau

Monthly data released Wednesday by HUD and the Census Bureau shows sales of new homes last month plummeting 14.5 percent from February to an estimated seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 384,000. The last time transactions ran so low was last July, when they came to 383,000.

A new report by the Census Bureau shows that construction spending for the month of January has increased. The government’s latest report shows spending on all construction projects was up 0.1 percent from December, an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $943.1 billion.

The homeownership rate dropped 0.1 percentage point to 65.2 percent over the fourth quarter 2013. The rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the Census Bureau.

Though the slow rate of household formation among millenials--those born after 1980--has been cause for alarm among some economists, analysts at Moody's Investors Service say reports of a lost generation of homebuyers are overblown. The Census Bureau released its homeownership rate report for the third quarter in early November, revealing homeownership in the 35 and younger age group is growing at a sluggish pace, with 31.6 percent still living with their parents.

While headlines continue to portray a housing market with rising prices and tight inventory, vacancies remain high. Government data released this week reveal a dark cloud looming behind the bright headlines. According to Trulia, more than three-fourths of the nation's largest markets are dealing with more empty homes than prior to the latest housing bubble.

Continuing to respond to higher mortgage rates, the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) slipped for the third straight month, dropping 1.6 percent in August to 107.7 the lowest level since April, the National Association of Realtors which compiles the index reported Thursday.

Builders lowered prices and buyers responded in August, pushing new home sales up 7.9 percent to 421,000, reversing almost half of July’s 64,000 drop in sales, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to rise to 425,000 from July’s originally reported 394,000.

Led by the strongest gain for single-family construction this, year, the pace of housing starts edged up 0.9 percent in August, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday. Total housing permits though declined 4.8 percent despite a surge in filings for single-family homes.

The Housing Market Index (HMI), a measure of builder confidence, stalled at 58 in September, unchanged from August’s downwardly revised reading, the National Association of Home Builders reported Tuesday. The August confidence reading had originally been 59. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the index to remain at that level. But a dip in one of the three index components--the outlook for new home sales six months out--pulled the reading down slightly.

Americans spent more on cars, furniture, health and beauty aids and at restaurants but were otherwise frugal in August as retail sales went up a disappointing 0.2 percent from July, the Census Bureau reported Friday. Economists had expected sales to increase 0.5 percent.