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1 month ago | 
eyeonhousing.org | Robert Dietz |Eric Lynch
In a widely anticipated move, the Federal Reserve remained on pause with respect to rate cuts at the conclusion of its March meeting, maintaining the federal funds rate in the 4.25% to 4.5% range. While the central bank acknowledged that the economy remains solid, it emphasized a data- and policy-dependent approach to future monetary policy decisions due to increased uncertainty.
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2 months ago | 
eyeonhousing.org | Eric Lynch |Jesse Wade |Robert Dietz
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing reflected mixed results year-over-year in the fourth quarter, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. While the Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased seven points to 48 year-over-year, it is still below the break-even point of 50.
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2 months ago | 
eyeonhousing.org | Eric Lynch
Construction costs account for 64.4% of the average price of a home, according to NAHB’s most recent Cost of Construction Survey. In 2022, the share was 3.6 points lower, at 60.8%. The latest finding marks a record high for construction costs since the inception of the series in 1998 and the fifth instance where construction
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Fan-Yu Kuo |Eric Lynch
Inflation edged up to a five-month high in December as energy prices surged, accounting for more than 40% of the monthly headline increase. Inflation ended 2024 at a 2.9% rate, down from 3.4% a year ago, although the last mile to the Fed’s 2% target continues to be challenging.
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Dec 31, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Eric Lynch
With the end of 2024 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In April, Eric Lynch examined various macroeconomic and housing finance components and their responsiveness to changes in the federal funds rate.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Paul Emrath |Eric Lynch
In the third quarter of 2024, borrowers and lenders agreed, as they have over most of the past three years, that credit for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) tightened. On the borrower’s side, the net easing index from NAHB’s survey on AD&C Financing posted a reading of -12.0 (the negative number indicates credit was tighter than in the previous quarter).
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Jesse Wade |Robert Dietz |Eric Lynch |Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
The percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months of completion rose from 50% to 55% in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA). The survey covers new units in multifamily residential buildings with five or more units. Meanwhile, the absorption rate within three months for condominiums and cooperative units fell over the quarter, from 80% to 66%.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Robert Dietz |Eric Lynch |Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts declined during the third quarter of 2024. For the quarter, 94,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 88,000 were built-for-rent. This was almost 14% lower than the third quarter of 2023. The market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts declined to below 94% for the third quarter, as the built-for-sale, multifamily condo market experienced a gain.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Robert Dietz |Eric Lynch
Year-over-year gains for townhouse construction continued during the third quarter of 2024 as demand for medium-density housing continues to be solid despite slowing for other sectors of the building industry. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the third quarter of 2024, single-family attached starts totaled 47,000, matching the highest quarterly count for townhouse construction since mid-2006.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
eyeonhousing.org | Eric Lynch |Paul Emrath |Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
Lending standards were essentially unchanged for all residential mortgage categories in the third quarter of 2024, except for Subprime loans, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s October 2024 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). Demand for most residential mortgage loans remained weaker across all categories in the quarter. Lending conditions for commercial real estate (CRE) loans were moderately tight, amid modestly weak demand as well.
