The inventory of for-sale homes has struck a 20-year low. And while economists and the public cry for more inventory, many builders are pressed to meet demand. A labor and subcontractor shortage in the building industry has worsened over the past year, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey of single-family builders.Builders reported widespread shortages for each of the 15 occupations su
New-home sales inched up 0.8 percent in June, but sales would be higher if there were more new homes to sell. Sales of newly built single-family homes reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in June, according to a joint report released by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.“While new home inventory rose slightly in June, it remains tight as builders face lot and labor shortages and in
A shortage of homes for sale combined with growing buyer demands will likely spark home builders to construct the most homes this year than in the last decade, economists told HousingWire.“Most likely a result of the trending imbalance between homes for sale and demand for new homes to purchase, housing starts finally edged up in the month of June to 8.3 percent,” says Greg Parsons, Semper Capital Management CEO. “The need to balance the g
The Los Angeles beachfront neighborhood of Venice may be one of the most in-demand areas in the nation—but it hasn’t gained a single housing unit in the last 15 years.Venice was ranked as the country’s toughest place to build new homes, according to an analysis by contractor website BuildZoom.com. In fact, the neighborhood had about 700 fewer housing units in 2015 than it did in 2000. Apartment development has come to a standstill there, an
Home builders are ramping up the pace of new-home construction in response to an ongoing shortage of homes for sale across the country.Housing starts nationwide jumped 8.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Single-family production zoomed to its second highest rate of this year, increasing 6.3 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 849,0
Spending on repairs and home improvement continues to grow at a stable rate as homeowners feel more confident about starting projects as their home values increase.That said, an annual increase in remodeling expenditures may soften somewhat in the coming months, but will likely remain at or above 6 percent through the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity from Harvard University’s Joint Ce
Modular housing has been praised for its potential to help communities more quickly add inventories of homes. Portions of the home are built in a factory and then assembled on site to help speed up delivery times.A U.K.-based company called Ten Fold Engineering says it’s developed a series of modular housing structures that can be unfolded in less than 10 minutes without the need for builders, cranes, or foundations. The unit gets delivered
Competition is heating up among millennials and baby boomers for smaller, more affordable homes. But builders have been slow to meet demand. That may be showing signs of changing.Home sizes are beginning to shrink, which may also, in turn, help prices edge down some too.“We are starting to see [smaller] starter homes come back,” says Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.The uptick started slightly in mi
There needs to be a shift in government policy so that we can make it easier for builders to do what they do bestKey Takeaways Government regulations, land, low labor and material costs all contribute to the lack of new home completions.Housing markets all across the U.S. are suffering from serious shortages of homes for sale, and this isn’t expected to change in the foreseeable future.When I think about inventory levels and the fact that deman
By 2030, the nation will need about 4.6 million new apartments to meet demand and keep prices in check, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. To reach that number, about 373,000 new units, on average, will be needed each year.The nation is getting closer to meeting the growing demands from renters. Apartment construction is at a 20-year high, according to data from RentCafe and Yardi Matrix.Apartment completions are expected to t
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
