eye on the economy 140820
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Our biweekly review of the housing economy! See everything from home building to jobs and everything in between!TRANSCRIPT
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Eye on the EconomyHome Construction Rebounds in July
August 20, 2014
eyeonhousing.org
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Starts Bounce Back
• Rebounded with a 15.7% increase
• Three our of four regions increased
• Multifamily starts also rose
•Real rents up 1.4% over last 12 months
• Read more here
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Builders More Confident
• Housing Market Index rose two points to 55
• Current sales Index rose to 58
• Read more here
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The Average Size of Single-Family Homes is Cooling
• Lack of first-time home buyers
• means new homes are purchased by those who can afford a larger house
• Typical new home size rose
• Second quarter data show slowing of this trend
• Increases in the number of first-time home buyers will slow growth of average home size
• Read more here
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Builders Also Confident in the 55+ Home Market
• Index at 56 for Q2 2014
• 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year gains
• Read more here
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More Markets are Improving
• Leading Markets Index increased 1 point in August
• Over one-third of metro areas improved since June
• Read more here
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Consumer Debt on the Rise
• Debt positions continue to improve
• Mortgage delinquencies decreased 6.04%
• Consumer debt continues to increase, but debt service expenses remains low
• Read more here
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Housing Affordability Declines
• Housing Opportunity Index drops to 62.6
• That means 62% of new and existing homes are affordable to the median income of Americans
• Read more here
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Building Materials Prices
• Softwood lumber declined; but still above 2013 prices
• OSB prices dipped
• Gypsum prices below 2014 high; above 2006 housing boom levels
• Read more here
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Shortages of Building Materials Eases
• NAHB survey shows shortages of building materials have eased
• 15% of builders reported some or serious shortages of trusses or clay bricks
• 14% report shortages of windows, doors, gypsum wall board and cabinets
• Read more here
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Unfilled Construction Jobs
• Increased in June
•Fourth highest tally since end of the recession
•Industry has added more than 301,000 jobs to the economy since the peak of the recession
• Read more here
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Other Analysis
Immigration Homeownership
Read more here
Trends in Work Commutes
Read more here
Recent Global Home Price Data
Read more here