Monthly Archives: January 2016

NAHB: Builder Confidence increased to 70 in December | North Salem Real Estate

 

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) was at 70 in December, up from 63 in November. Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

From the NAHB: Builder Confidence Closes Year on a High Note

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes jumped seven points to a level of 70 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the highest reading since July 2005.
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“Though this significant increase in builder confidence could be considered an outlier, the fact remains that the economic fundamentals continue to look good for housing,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The rise in the HMI is consistent with recent gains for the stock market and consumer confidence. At the same time, builders remain sensitive to rising mortgage rates and continue to deal with shortages of lots and labor.”
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All three HMI components posted healthy gains in December. The component gauging current sales conditions increased seven points to 76 while the index charting sales expectations in the next six months jumped nine points to 78. Meanwhile, the component measuring buyer traffic rose six points to 53, marking the first time this gauge has topped 50 since October 2005.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast rose six points to 51, the Midwest posted a three-point gain to 61, the South rose one point to 67 and the West registered a two-point gain to 79.

read more…

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2016/12/nahb-builder-confidence-increased-to-70.html

 

Residential Construction Employment Grew | South Salem Real Estate

The count of unfilled jobs in the overall construction sector remained elevated in October, as residential construction employment continued to grow.

According to the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) and NAHB analysis, the number of open construction sector jobs (on a seasonally adjusted basis) came in at 205,000 in October, after reaching 221,000 in September. The cycle high was 225,000 set in July.

The open position rate (job openings as a percent of total employment) for October was 3%. On a smoothed twelve-month moving average basis, the open position rate for the construction sector increased to 2.7%, setting a cycle high and surpassing the top twelve-month moving average rate established prior to the recession.

The overall trend for open construction jobs has been increasing since the end of the Great Recession. This is consistent with survey data indicating that access to labor remains a top business challenge for builders.

jolts-dec-pub

The construction sector hiring rate, as measured on a twelve-month moving average basis, remained steady at 4.9% in October. The twelve-month moving average for layoffs was also steady (2.7%), remaining in a range set last Fall.

Monthly employment data for November 2016 (the employment count data from the BLS establishment survey are published one month ahead of the JOLTS data) indicate that home builder and remodeler net hiring jumped significantly, as sector employment increased by 19,600. The November gains continue the improvement in the Fall after a period of hiring weakness early in 2016. The 6-month moving average of jobs gains for residential construction has now increased to a healthier 10,400 per month.

Residential construction employment now stands at 2.644 million, broken down as 743,000 builders and 1.901 million residential specialty trade contractors.

res-constr-employ

Over the last 12 months home builders and remodelers have added 120,000 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point of industry employment following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 658,000 positions.

 

read more…

 

http://eyeonhousing.org/2016/12/residential-construction-employment-grew-in-november/