Tag Archives: National Association of Home Builders

Led by a surge in multifamily building, housing starts jumped 7.0 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000, the highest level since June 2008 while housing starts dropped 3.9 percent to 902,000, the lowest level since November, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Tuesday. In February, multifamily activity represented 60 percent of the increase in permits, while in March, all of the multifamily units accounted for all of the increase in starts as single-family starts fell.

With the price of a new home barely above year-ago levels, builder confidence fell for the third straight month in April, dropping two points to 42, the lowest level since October, the National Association of Home Builders reported. Economists had expected the Housing Market Index (HMI), the measure of confidence, to improve to 45 from March's reading of 44. It was the second straight month the index fell when economists had expected it to improve.

After climbing for seven straight months, the improving markets index (IMI) from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American fell by one market from the prior month. The index identified 273 markets as improving this month, down from 274 in March. Although the index welcomed five new markets in April, six dropped off the list. ""In some markets, the main thing that's holding back a recovery is a relatively thin inventory of homes for sale, which could be resolved if builders had easier access to credit for building homes and putting people back to work,"" said Rick Judson, NAHB chairman.

The National Association of Home Builders expressed its support for a housing finance system that phases out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but maintains a degree of federal support. ""[A] federal backstop should be a fundamental element of bipartisan legislation moving forward,""said Rick Judson, NAHB chairman. The Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission and the Mortgage Bankers Association have also expressed support for a housing finance system that calls for an expanded role of private capital while maintaining a level of federal support as measure of last resort.

New home sales fell 4.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 in February, the sharpest drop in two years, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Tuesday. At the same time, the months' supply of new homes for sale rose to the highest level since December 2011. The median price of a new home, according to the Census/HUD report, rose $7,200 in February after falling $20,500 in January. The median price is up 2.9 percent in the last year, the weakest year-over-year gain in eight months.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Improving Markets Index (IMI) showed no signs of slowing down in March, rising for its seventh consecutive month. According to NAHB, 274 metros are now on the mend, a net gain of 15 since February. While 19 markets were dropped, 34 new areas were added, including Birmingham, Alabama; Santa Barbara, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Bloomington, Indiana. For the second straight month, metros in all 50 states are represented on the list.

One of the most interesting results of poring through economic data reports is that the details often tell a different story than the headline. The recent report on retail sales is a case in point. While the vast majority of commentators were impressed with a strong 1.1 percent month-over-month increase in overall sales, those who scratched the surface were rewarded for their efforts by learning more than half of the month-over-month increase came from an increase in gasoline station sales as prices. In addition, coverage of the recent report on housing permits and starts was dominated by the increase in both permits and starts. A closer look at the permit-starts data revealed another important phenomenon: a shift from single-family to multifamily construction.

Builder confidence slipped in March to 44, the lowest level since October, the National Association of Home Builders Monday. Economists had expected the Housing Market Index, the measure of confidence, to improve to 47 from February's reading of 46. It was the second straight monthly decline in the index and the third straight month the index failed to increase (it was flat from December to January). Tighter inventories had been expected to improve confidence, but builder attitudes have also been weighed down by prices of new single-family homes.

It's been two weeks since the dreaded sequester took effect, and so far, the only casualty has been the White House tour. There actually have been some positives, with both parties presenting budgets. However, both the GOP budget and the Democratic plan have one major similarity: Each is dead on arrival and destined to at best be a one-house budget, which leaves the country back where it was. Setting a target for practical balance would bring us closer to reducing the deficit and with less pain.

While more than 90 percent of homes purchased in 2011 were existing homes, more than half of homebuyers declared a preference for new homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Characteristics of Home Buyers, an analysis of the 2011 American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau. About 55 percent of survey respondents stated a preference for new homes, according to NAHB. Along with their preference for new homes, survey respondents expressed a desire for energy-efficient homes.