Housing starts in Canada were trending at 184,438 units in May compared to 183,872 in April, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.
Residential construction is a key engine behind economic growth in the United States. According to McGraw Hill Construction’s Dodge Construction Market Forecast, single and multifamily housing projects account for about 45% of the value of all construction projects started in theUnited States in 2014. With that market forecasted to grow rapidly in coming years, the green activity and drivers in the market are critical. The new SmartMarket Report of the single and multifamily builder and remodeler community released today by McGraw Hill Construction contains this critical intelligence.
2014 Luxury Report: Sales of Priciest 1% of Homes Climb While Rest of Home Sales Still Down5/28/2014
Resource: REDFIN Neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco Dominate the Top 20 List of Most Expensive Homes
Home sales so far this year are lower than they were in 2013, but there’s one sliver of the housing market that’s going strong: the very top of it. Sales of the priciest 1 percent of homes are up 21.1 percent so far this year, following a gain of 35.7 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, in the other 99 percent of the market, home sales have fallen 7.6 percent in 2014. Source: Builder By Brad Hunter Following a dip in sales in recent months, demand for new homes is once again on the rise.
Our new research shows that buyers are gradually moving off the fence. Metrostudy keeps weekly tabs on consumer interest in seeing builders’ models, and in signing a contract to buy. Builders call the percentage of people walking in the door who actually end up buying the conversion rate—conversion rates have been miserable lately. In recent months, the flow of foot-traffic through builders' models has been extraordinarily strong, yet an unusually small percentage of them actually moved ahead with a purchase. Some builders were reporting a long "gestation" period between the time a visitor walked into their showroom and the time they signed a contract to purchase. Other builders said they were hearing a lot of "we'll be back" and then never see them again. Source: The Freedonia Group, Inc. US demand to rise about 7% annually through 2018
Demand for windows and doors in the US is projected to advance about seven percent per year through 2018 to $32 billion. Rebounding housing completions and building construction expenditures will stimulate gains. Construction of buildings such as residences and office, commercial, and institutional buildings that are intensive users of windows and doors is a key indicator of demand. Window and door sales saw steep declines in the 2008-2013 period due to the sharp contraction in construction spending. Solid growth is expected in the home remodeling market this year but momentum should begin to moderate in the fourth quarter, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released today by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Sluggishness in the housing market and specifically in home sales may result in a deceleration of home improvement spending from double-digit annual growth through the third quarter to a year-over-year gain in the high single digits by the end of the year.
The National Association of the Remodeling Industry’s (NARI) first-quarter 2014 Remodeling Business Pulse (RBP) data of current and future remodeling business conditions show current condition ratings fell significantly in March.
Construction materials prices expanded 0.5 percent in March and are up 1.1 percent from March of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s April 11 producer price index release. Nonresidential construction materials prices are up 0.4 percent for the month and are 1 percent higher than the same time one year ago.
Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose one point to 47 in April from a downwardly revised March reading of 46 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today.
Of the approximately 350 metro markets nationwide, 59 returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), released today. This represents a net gain of 11 metros year over year.
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