Strategy in TECH...
Sales of newly constructed single-family homes dropped to a two-year low in October as rising mortgage rates and persistent high prices impacted the affordability of available homes and served to keep buyers on the sidelines. Some experts also noted that elevated hurricane activity also kept buyers away, especially in the South region.
The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that residential construction (housing starts) took off in August with high single-digit overall and even double-digit upside gains in the single-family construction segment. Many industry observers attributed the upturn to now more optimistic builders looking to take advantage of improving housing affordability with mortgage rates declining. Many builders believe this will stimulate a big upturn in sales.
Residential construction, known as housing starts, dropped in March by a surprising double-digit percentage. Most industry analysts believe that the slowdown is due to stubborn inflation readings motivating the Fed to keep interest rates high which is affecting mortgage rates and home affordability.
After solid gains in February raised hopes in the segment, the March numbers were a chilling splash of reality as home inventory is low and mortgage rates are high.
In new data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, residential construction – otherwise known as housing starts – returned to growth again, after registering a concerning double-digit decline in August. However, most analysts believe housing will continue to be challenged by a combination of high prices and high interest rates combining to make housing unaffordable for most buyers.
Yet another sign of the struggling housing industry as climbing mortgage rates and historically high home prices combine to drop new residential construction – known as housing starts – to their lowest level in three years. Both single-family housing starts and overall housing starts, which includes multi-family dwellings, saw significant declines in August.
According to the latest data from national realtor Redfin, sales of luxury homes in the U.S. have declined a record -44.6% for the three-month period ending January 3, 2023, on a year-over-year (YoY) basis. That result outpaced the decline in sales of non-luxury homes of -37.5%.
Residential construction of new homes – known as housing starts – continues to register monthly declines as a combination of still-high home prices along with rapidly rising mortgage rates results in collapsing home affordability. While economists continue to debate if and when the U.S. economy enters a recession – it’s clear that housing overall, and the home building segment specifically – is already there.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the latest housing data this week showing that sales of new single-family homes in July hit their lowest level in 6½ years. While unit sales declined, both median and average prices continued to increase, making future home sales even more unaffordable.
In the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we learn that overall housing starts have hit their lowest level since February 2021 as climbing mortgage rates combined with still-high housing prices have made homes unaffordable for many Americans. The same report also notes that building permits have declined as well, suggesting housing will remain in decline for some time to come.
For some time now, I have been dutifully reporting on the – at first subtle…now as subtle as a Mac truck – changes taking place in the housing market, clearly in decline after a stunning runup during the 2020-2021 COVID period. Certain economic segments, including Tech in general and custom integration specifically, benefitted from the COVID period forcing consumers to huddle in their homes.
