July Sees Expanded Housing Starts

 The housing industry and the residential construction industry is still the catalyst for a rebounding economy. Single-family permits and starts gained ground in July. Low-interest rates and the importance of homes due to COVID-19 have fueled the buyer’s market.

According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), single-family permits rose 17% in July. So far in 2020, the total permits for single-family homes on year-to-date bases are up around 6% higher than the first seven months of 2019.

The HMI is based on data collected from the NAHB’s monthly survey which the National Association of Home Builders has been conducting for 30 years. It measures builder’s perceptions of the current single-family home sales and expectations of sales for the next six months. Builders will rate their perception as good, fair or poor.

There are signs that more gains for single-family starts are on the horizon. This can be determined by the fast pace of permits and the renewal of builder confidence. The graph shows that single-family construction has been on the rise since it hit a low in April from the pandemic. April had a 679,000 annual pace while July saw a 940,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate.

Per region single-family starts are up and down depending on the region. In the Northeast single-family starts are down on a year-to-date basis 1%, in the South, they are up 0.7%, in the Midwest they are up 3.4% and in the West, they are also in the positive at 0.5%.

So far the housing market has remained strong during these unprecedented times. The count of single-family homes in various stages of construction is still on the rise. Now is a good time to sell or purchase a home.

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Increase in Private Residential Construction Spending

Private residential construction spending is spending on construction by private parties and homeowners.  Data about this construction spending is collected from retail and wholesale outlets nationally. It seems that homeowners and small builders have a positive outlook on the economy and are spening money on new home construction on their own land or lot, as well as additions and remodeling to existing homes that they own.  Many people buy land and hold it for awhile before they decide to build a new home.  By owning land, there is an opportunity for new home builders to be able to more easily qualify for a construction loan by utilizing the equity in the land.

In addition to new home construction, homeowners are improving their homes as well, by contracting popular remodeling projects, such as kitchen, master bath, and outdoor area remodels.  Additions of pool houses, mother-in-law suites, and over-the-garage apartments are also popular construction projects for existing homeowners, which contribute money to the total amount of private construction spending during the month of July.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) did an analysis of the Census Construction Spending, and the data showed an increase of private residential construction spending of .8% in July over June, 2017, to an amount of $523.1 billion.  This increase was also an 11.6% increase year-over-year compared to 2016, and it was the third consecutive monthly increase for private construction spending after it went down slightly in April, 2017.

The breakdown in construction spending between single-family home construction and home improvement of existing homes shows that new home construction went up by .8% compared to June to reach $264.1 billion, and $192.4 billion was spent on home remodeling or renovation, which was a 1.41% increase month-over-month.  Also remodeling / renovation spending was up a total of 16.5% year-over-year compared to July, 2016.

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