Construction materials prices continue to surge
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its producer price index report for May 2022. It stated that construction materials prices were up 1.1 percent in the month, seasonally adjusted. The index was 18.2...
Biden Administration delivers plan to remedy housing shortage
The Biden administration recently announced its plan to solve the nation’s housing shortage, which includes creating more affordable housing. The 13-page Housing Supply Action Plan promises to increase housing supply across the nation, eradicating...
What drives rent growth?
A new report from Yardi Matrix seeks to answer this question and to examine how the factors driving rent growth have changed since the onset of the COVID pandemic.
Identifying the factors
The report looked at...
Fannie and Fed furnish falling forecasts
The latest forecasts from Fannie Mae and from the Federal Reserve foresee higher inflation than in earlier forecasts. They predict that rising interest rates will slow the economy, although they disagree on how much.
Fannie...
Multifamily property prices continue their rise
A new report from Real Capital Analytics (RCA) said that multifamily property prices rose 23.3 percent year-over-year in May and that they rose 1.5 percent from the month before. The annual rate of increase...
Apartment List reports on apartment vacancy rates
In its inaugural report on apartment vacancy rates, Apartment List states that the national average rate rose to 4.95 percent in May. This is up 0.6 percent from the year-earlier value and up 0.9 percent...
Plywood again leads construction materials prices higher
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its producer price index report for February 2022. It stated that construction materials prices were up 1.2 percent in the month, seasonally adjusted. The index was 23.5...
NAHB urges Congress to take steps to get more women in the workforce
To get more women working in the residential construction sector and overall workforce, lawmakers must pursue flexible, targeted and incentive-based strategies to tackle the high cost of childcare and availability of paid leave, the...
More than 600 builders urge Congress to take action to ease the housing affordability...
More than 600 builders from across the nation trekked to Capitol Hill for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 2022 Legislative Conference to spotlight the growing housing affordability crisis that threatens to derail...
Weakening builder confidence points to economic troubles ahead
Rising inflation and higher mortgage rates are slowing traffic of prospective home buyers and putting a damper on builder sentiment. In a troubling sign for the housing market, builder confidence in the market for...
Ginnie Mae MBS portfolio growth surpasses $2.2 trillion
Ginnie Mae guaranteed more than $49 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in May 2022, helping support affordable homeownership and rental unit development for more than 170,000 households. The May issuance takes the overall outstanding...
Census reports uptick in rental vacancy rates
The Census Bureau released its quarterly report on home ownership and occupancy for Q1 2022. It showed that the rental housing vacancy rate was 5.8 percent, up from a level of 5.6 percent in...
Residential construction spending higher in April
The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending shows that residential construction spending in April was up 0.9 percent from the revised level of the month before. Residential construction spending was up 18.4 percent year-over-year.
Single-family...
Emotional support animal vs person with allergies: Who wins?
The Iowa State Supreme Court looked at a conflict between two people, both requesting "reasonable accommodation," in a recent ruling.
Origins of the conflict
Karen Cohen has a severe allergy to pet dander. Because of this,...
Multifamily jobs numbers continue to improve
The latest Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that employment in both categories of residential construction jobs and in one of two categories of apartment operations jobs we track rose...
