The Zelman Buzz - Zelman & Associates

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

Pandemic or Inventory – What is Driving Relative Strength in New Home Sales?

July 16, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

In so many ways, COVID-19 has altered the way one might describe their home – a place to shelter, their office, a school room, a safe haven, and more. With that has come many opinions and surveys about how consumers are thinking about owning versus renting, urban locations versus the suburbs or expensive job centers versus...

Filed Under | existing home sales new home sales survey

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

Will Declining Marriage Rates Pressure Single-Family Housing Demand?

May 18, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this month, the latest data for marriage rates were released, and the lowest national propensity in over 150 years drew some startling headlines across the media. Inability to afford marriage and young ...

Filed Under | demographics

What Might Plunge in Multi-Family Operator Sentiment Mean?

April 23, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

Like most businesses, multi-family operators and developers are navigating unprecedented conditions resulting from COVID-19, led by uncertainty related to rent collections, spiking unemployment, capital availability ...

Filed Under | apartments survey

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

Media Analyses of State Population Trends Biased to Fit Convenient Narrative?

January 24, 2020 by Zelman & Associates

Many factors influence where people live, including where they were raised, employment opportunities, housing affordability, quality of life, weather and more. Lately, most media headlines seem to be isolating tax reform ...

Filed Under | demographics

California a Notable Drag on Birth Data Last Year

December 13, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this year, preliminary 2018 birth data was released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which revealed that total births declined 1.7% year over year, slightly better than a 2.3% decline in 2017, but ...

Filed Under | demographics

Across-the-Board Upside for Public Homebuilder Third Quarter Key Metrics

November 15, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

So far, 14 public homebuilders included in our equity research coverage have reported calendar third quarter financial results. These builders generated over $20 billion ...

Filed Under | homebuilding stocks

Public Apartment REITs Post Solid Growth, but Monitoring Signs of Moderation

November 15, 2019 by Zelman & Associates

The seven public apartment REITs included in our equity research coverage owned almost 440,000 units as of 3Q19. For the 88% of units categorized in the same-store pool, revenue expanded by 3.4% ...

Filed Under | apartments stocks