Tag Archives: Housing Supply

Measuring new homebuilding against employment numbers—which only recently recovered from their recessionary decline—the National Association of Realtors finds that historically, there is one new home built for every 1.5 jobs added to the economy. As of the first quarter, 32 states and the District of Columbia are above that ratio, meaning job growth has far outpaced new construction over the past three years.

In its latest Real-Time Demand Pulse, Redfin recorded a 2.1 percent month-over-month decline in customers taking home tours in April. "New listings get the attention of would-be buyers, prompting them to go on home tours," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin. "However, new listings increased just 8 percent in April, compared with 25 percent growth in March, and that slower growth had a dampening effect on home tours."

Home prices and inventories moved more in balance with each other across the country in April, according to the latest National Housing Trend Report from Realtor.com. The company believes the bumps in both inventory and asking price suggest a strengthening national economy.

Home prices have risen in Florida for 29 consecutive months as of April, according to Florida Realtors. At the same time, new listings and inventory are on the rise. "We continue to see the development of a sustainable market here in Florida," said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, adding, "The numbers all suggest a balanced market."

According to Zillow, more than half of metros in the U.S. currently have fewer homes for sale than last year at this time. In many metros, the company found that inventory is tightest at the lower end of the market, a common price point often desirable by first-time homebuyers.

Following a release from Redfin indicating mixed strength in April’s housing segment, RE/MAX has issued its own monthly report, echoing the theme of a cooling market compared to the last few years. "While sales and prices aren't growing at the rate they did last year, we still remain in a recovery with the market settling into a more sustainable growth pattern," said CEO Margaret Kelly.

In its Real-Time Price Tracker report for April, national brokerage Redfin reported a 12.4 percent monthly pickup in home sales across its 30 surveyed markets, restoring some faith in sales after an unexpected dive in March. However, compared to April 2013, last month's sales fell 7.6 percent short, with nine markets posting double-digit annual declines.

In a recent blog post for the company, Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko notes that certain discrepancies do arise, specifically along the coasts, for middle-class homeownership. Kolko found that the middle class is getting priced out of California but finds more success in the Midwest. In fact, in 80 of the 100 largest U.S. metros, most of the homes for sale are within reach of the middle class.

Although rising rents and tight inventories have led to a surge in new construction in San Francisco, the new supply is barely able to keep pace with demand, creating challenges in the region, says Wells Fargo's Economics Group. "Multi-family permits, which include both apartments and condominiums, surged 30.4 percent in Santa Clara County during 2013 and have eclipsed previous highs for this market," the group said. Single-family home building is rebounding, but only "slowly and off exceptionally low levels."

CoreLogic released Tuesday its own quarterly Case-Shiller Indexes, assembled using the company’s proprietary data supplemented with statistics from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). While prices nationwide were up an estimated 11.3 percent in Q4, seven cities managed to shoot up into the 20 percent range year-over-year, with Las Vegas leading at 25.6 percent growth.