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Homebuilding Activity Slowed in February but Is Weather to Blame?

April 08, 2021 by Kevin Kaczmarek

February single-family housing starts as reported by the Census Bureau decelerated faster than expected, leaving them at the lowest seasonally-adjusted level since August 2020. As we noted the week prior to the release in our latest Homebuilding Survey, extreme weather conditions, especially in Texas...

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homebuilding housing starts macro housing

Revisiting History as Mortgage Rates Climb Higher

April 01, 2021 by Ivy Zelman & Dennis McGill

No discussion about the health of, and future outlook for, the housing market would be complete without consideration of the mortgage rate environment. During our September 2020 Virtual Housing Summit presentation, we spent considerable time dissecting the various catalysts...

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affordability interest rates macro housing mortgage mortgage rates

Exploding Housing Demand Viewed in Different Context

December 10, 2020 by Dennis McGill

While robust for-sale housing demand of late has commonly been explained with a pandemic tilt, we believe that the vast majority of the strength has been catalyzed by record low mortgage rates. Not only have mortgage rates...

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existing home sales macro housing mortgage rates

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

Home Price Increases Starting to Overcome Low Mortgage Rate Benefit

October 21, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

In 2019, the median and average new home cost $321,500 and $383,900, according to the Census Bureau. However, with almost 95% of purchases financed with a mortgage, it is not the total cost, but rather the monthly payment...

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affordability home pricing macro housing mortgage rates survey

Home Improvements Among Pandemic Spending Winners – Can It Sustain?

August 11, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

In 2019, growth in consumer expenditures was solid, increasing 4% from 2018, a trend that continued into January and February of this year with consistency across spending avenues. However, the pandemic upended consumer habits and priorities...

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home improvement macro housing

Unemployment Not a Problem in For-Sale Market - Too Good To Be True?

June 19, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

As we recently explored in our Unemployment and Housing report, contrary to perception, spiking unemployment of late has cast a wide net, reaching across ages and income cohorts. While the traditional overhang...

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demographics macro housing

Strong Aggregate Jobs Numbers as Housing Read-Throughs Stay Positive

February 21, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

Following December’s shortfall to headline expectations, the January employment report rebounded favorably on an overall basis and factors most influential to housing remained positive. Notably ...

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macro housing

If New Home Demand is So Strong, Why Has Start Activity Been So Lackluster?

September 20, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

This week, the Census Bureau reported its estimate for August single-family housing starts and permits. Positively, seasonally-adjusted starts accelerated to an annualized pace of 919,000, representing the strongest level since January and ...

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housing starts new home sales survey