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Home Improvements Among Pandemic Spending Winners – Can It Sustain?

August 11, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

In 2019, growth in consumer expenditures was solid, increasing 4% from 2018, a trend that continued into January and February of this year with consistency across spending avenues. However, the pandemic upended consumer habits and priorities...

Filed Under | home improvement macro housing

Unemployment Not a Problem in For-Sale Market - Too Good To Be True?

June 19, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

As we recently explored in our Unemployment and Housing report, contrary to perception, spiking unemployment of late has cast a wide net, reaching across ages and income cohorts. While the traditional overhang...

Filed Under | demographics macro housing

Strong Aggregate Jobs Numbers as Housing Read-Throughs Stay Positive

February 21, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

Following December’s shortfall to headline expectations, the January employment report rebounded favorably on an overall basis and factors most influential to housing remained positive. Notably ...

Filed Under | macro housing

Residential Construction Warning of Nearing Recession?

August 23, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Through the first seven months of 2019, residential construction for single-family and multi-family projects has trailed the prior-year period across the board. Specifically, single-family permits and starts are both down 3% while multi-family ...

Filed Under | apartments homebuilding macro housing

The Latest on Homeownership and Housing Supply

July 26, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Yesterday, the Census Bureau released its quarterly Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), which is intended to measure the occupancy and ownership status of the nation’s housing stock. Although the second quarter release indicated a sequential decline ...

Filed Under | homeownership macro housing

Mischaracterization of Single-Family Investors Impacts Perceived Demand, Risk

July 12, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

In a blog post in late June (Don’t Call it a Comeback: Housing Investors Have Been Here for Years), CoreLogic raised some eyebrows with the conclusion that “in 2018, the share of home sales bought by investors reached its highest level in two ...

Filed Under | institutional investors macro housing

Zelman Beige Book Index Provides Some Comfort Around Recessionary Fears

June 14, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve publishes its Beige Book, a qualitative assessment of economic conditions around the country based on conversations with business executives. Incorporating publications dating back to 1970, we have constructed ...

Filed Under | macro housing

What Do Housing Unit Estimates by State Tell About Demographic Trends?

May 31, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

As most recently discussed in December, we have a proprietary process to analyze and estimate national housing units, households and vacancies, including our unique incorporation of residential electric customer ...

Filed Under | demographics macro housing

As Housing Sentiment and Actions Often Contradict, What Factors Matter Most?

May 17, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, Fannie Mae released the results of its monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index, which is “designed to track consumers’ housing-related attitudes, intentions and perceptions.” As a research firm, we always find value in surveys, assuming ...

Filed Under | macro housing mortgage rates

The Percentage of Construction Workers Saying “I Quit” a Sign of the Times

April 05, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

In 2018, the national unemployment rate averaged 3.9%, the first year below 4.0% since 1969, which has been a positive for wage growth and potential entry-level homebuyers. However, the other side of that coin has been a shortage of labor in ...

Filed Under | homebuilding macro housing