U.S. single-family homebuilding fell in June, but permits for future construction rose to a 12-month high as a severe shortage of previously owned houses for sale supports new construction.The decline in housing starts reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday partially retraced an abnormally large 18.7% surge in May, which had pushed groundbreaking on single-family housing projects to an 11-month high.Builders' efforts to ramp up construc
Mortgage rates turned higher again last week. But the increase did not cut into mortgage demand, as buyers sought newly built homes.Total mortgage application volume rose 3% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. An additional adjustment was made for the Juneteenth holiday.Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 3% for the week but were 21% lower year over year. Th
Groundbreaking on U.S. single-family homebuilding projects surged in May by the most in more than three decades and permits for future construction also climbed, suggesting the housing market may be turning a corner after getting clobbered by Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.Still, even with the Fed skipping a rate hike this month for the first time since early 2022, credit conditions remain in the process of tightening, and tha
‘A bottom is forming for single-family home building,’ economist says The shortage of previously-owned sales is helping to buoy builders’ confidence. With mortgage rates above 6%, many homeowners find little incentive to sell—nearly 92% have an outstanding mortgage with a rate below 6%, according to a recent survey conducted by Redfin RDFN, -3.04%, a brokerage and real estate listings company. And 23.5% of
Dive Brief: Over 14,500 new single-family rental homes were constructed across the country in 2022. This marks an all-time high, up 47% from 2021 and more than double the peak yearly construction rate before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from RentCafe.The trend shows no sign of slowing. Nearly 44,700 new build-to-rent homes — defined in the study as horizontal apartment-style units in neighborhoods of 50 or more — are u
Home buyers flock to new builds in an effort to find more options amid persistently low inventory. More buyers are deciding to build a new home because they can’t find an existing property in the current low-inventory environment, and the increased demand is prompting home construction to ramp up. The new-home market is experiencing a strong turnaround after a sluggish fall and winter, and builders are feeling more optimistic as new homes make
U.S. job openings as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics fell to 9.6 million in March, the lowest level since April of 2021. This marks the third consecutive month of decline and points to ongoing success in the cooling of the labor market. The construction sector faced similar declines with the number of openings in the industry falling from 404,000 in February to 341,000 in March.Additionally, though hires increased 33,000 in the constru
WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped to a one-year high in March, likely as a retreat in mortgage rates boosted demand.New home sales surged 9.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000 units last month, the highest level since March 2022, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. February's sales pace was revised lower to 623,000 units from the previously reported 640,000.New home sales are counted
Builder sentiment in the market for newly built homes rose in April for the fourth straight month, as the supply of existing homes for sale remains scarce.The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index climbed to 45 in April, a 1-point gain. Anything below 50 is considered negative.The reading is the highest since September. The index stood at 77 in April 2022.Builders in the report cited a lack of listings on the resa
Builders pushed forward with more single-family projects for the second month in a row, but remained far less active than in 2022, according to data issued Tuesday by the US Census BureauHomebuilders continued a slow ramp-up in new single-family construction projects last month, but the number of new projects remained near the lowest levels since mid-2020.Privately owned single-family starts in March rose to a seasonally adjusted annual
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