Over the past 15 years, the United States has not built enough houses to keep up with growing demand. The problem intensified during the pandemic as demand skyrocketed because of the shift to working from home and historically low mortgage rates encouraged this move. We estimate that at the end of ... READ MORE >
housing starts
Chart of the day: Pending home sales drop again in February
Pending home sales in February dipped for the fourth straight month as depleted inventory and rising mortgage rates dampened sales. The number of contracts signed for homes dropped 4.1% in February, following a 5.7% decline in January, according to data from the National Association of Realtors ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: U.S. housing permits reach 15-year high
Housing supply showed no sign of slowing down in January despite a decrease in starts because of the omicron surge. The one-time impact—which has subsided quickly—caused housing starts to decline by 4.1% in January to 1.638 million from 1,708 million in December on an annualized rate. But housing ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Housing starts and permits end year with upside surprises
The housing market ended the year on a strong note as housing starts and permits rose unexpectedly in December, beating estimates of potential declines. Most of the monthly gains came from sharp increases in multifamily homes, a sign of strong confidence among builders—which was in line with data from ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Housing starts lag as permits rise
Mixed results came from the housing sector in October as housing starts inched down by 0.7% while building permits rose sharply by 4.0%, according to data from the Census Bureau on Wednesday. Because both are proxies for the future supply of houses, we continue to see that supply has somewhat ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: U.S. housing starts and permits slowed amid shortages
Housing starts and permits stayed below expectations in September, signaling a supply slowdown because of shortages of materials and labor. The headline figure for housing starts fell by 1.6% on the month to 1.555 million units annualized because of a drop in multifamily units while single-family ... READ MORE >
Housing starts in Canada fall for the fourth consecutive month
Housing starts in Canada fell 4.42% to 251,151 in September, another sign of the continuing shortages of raw materials and labor that have gripped the economy. The drop, the fourth monthly decline in a row, was led by dramatic decreases in Ontario (9,380 units), Alberta (4,730 units) and most notably ... READ MORE >
Home builders, facing shortage of materials, can’t meet soaring demand
Even as the housing market continues to lead the economic recovery in the United States, home builders, whipsawed by more than a year of dramatic changes fueled by the pandemic, are facing new pressures as they try to meet surging demand. Already, builders have been scrambling to find enough workers to ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Housing market stays steady despite headwinds
The housing market in the United States remained resilient in May as developers continued to grapple with higher costs amid a shortage of supply. Housing starts rose 3.6% to 1.57 million while permits dipped 3% to 1.68 million, according to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday. While off the ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Housing permits hold while lack of materials stifles starts
Homebuilders continue to be bullish on the American housing market as housing permits remained above 1.7 million for the fifth straight month, coming in at 1.76 million in April, according to government data released Tuesday. We expected permits to remain strong as they are often a result of ... READ MORE >