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Labor Shortages Abound, Not So For Realtors Chasing Robust Pricing

October 27, 2021 by Ryan McKeveny

With severe labor shortages throughout the economy, including in the construction sector, one area seeing fairly unfettered expansion is the real estate agent community, encouraged by the housing market’s strength over the last 18 months and low barriers to entry. The National Association of Realtors’ membership, a rough proxy for industry-wide agent count, has reached its highest level ever...

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demographics homeownership household formation housing macro housing real estate services supply

New Data from Census Confirms Weakest Household Growth in Nation’s History Last Decade

August 12, 2021 by Dennis McGill

Earlier today, the Census Bureau released additional information collected during the 2020 Census, following the initial release of national and state population totals in April that we discussed in a previous blog. According to the results, there were 126.8 million households as of April 1^st, 2020, representing an 8.7% increase from 2010, or an additional 10.1 million households. This marked the slowest decade of household formation in the country’s history...

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demographics household formation macro housing

Immigration Policy Likely to be a Net Positive for Housing Under Biden

December 07, 2020 by Ivy Zelman, Dennis McGill & Alan Ratner

With President-elect Joe Biden set to occupy the White House on January 20th, there has been a lot of discussion about the potential impact of tax reform, student debt forgiveness and a proposed homebuyer tax credit on the housing market. Ultimately, a lot will depend upon the outcome of...

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demographics homebuilding homeownership household formation macro housing

What a Democratic Sweep Could Mean For Housing?

October 29, 2020 by Ivy Zelman

As we enter the final days prior to the election, I can’t help ponder what the outcome of a Democratic sweep could mean for housing and our country, which appears to be a real potential outcome. To stay away from my political views, I’ll focus on what a sweep would mean specifically for the housing market...

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existing home sales homebuilding household formation macro housing mortgage new home sales

A Look at the Pitfalls of the Most-Cited Household Formation Time Series

September 07, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

Once a quarter, the Census Bureau publishes the results of its Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), which includes estimates for occupied housing units, also referred to as households, vacancies and the homeownership rate. Given its frequency, the ...

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household formation

The Most Important Residential Construction Metric Never Discussed

April 20, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

There are many data points that are referenced by executives, investors and reporters to interpret the direction and position of the housing market, including existing home sales, new home sales, housing starts, the homeownership rate, home ...

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household formation macro housing

The Paradox of Household Formation and New Construction Supply

May 19, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

We utilize a proprietary tracking of residential electric customers to supplement our views on household formation, which has proven critical to our overall housing thesis during periods of volatile government data. ...

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household formation housing starts

Are We in the Midst of a Wedding and Baby Boom and Don’t Realize It?

April 21, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this week, the Census Bureau published a report titled “The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood: 1975-2016”, which analyzed changes in how young adults have been educated, started families and lived over the last ...

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demographics household formation

Amidst a Lost Decade for Housing, What Does Future Hold?

April 07, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Every quarter, we publish in-depth macro housing forecasts and explanations covering single-family construction, multi-family construction, the existing housing market, home improvements and mortgage finance. With the release ...

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household formation housing starts macro housing

Housing Executives and Analysts Being Swung Around by Volatile Government Data

March 10, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Household formation is a phrase used to describe the net change in the number of households over a given period of time, essentially measuring incremental housing demand. Despite the importance of this measure to the housing market, in particular ...

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household formation