Zelman Insights

Non-Banks Dominating Origination Market with Some Startling Growth Rates

October 20, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

While banks dominate mortgage credit headlines given that the majority are publicly traded, host investor conference calls and are recognizable brand names, non-depository mortgage companies ...

Filed Under
mortgage

What to Learn from Where Older Cohorts are Living, Moving?

October 06, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Baby boomers are accepted as the generation born from 1946-64. There were approximately 76 million births during these years, which was a robust 53% higher than the 19 years prior given overall population growth, the effects of the Great Depression ...

Filed Under
baby boomers demographics

Do You Realize the Unreliability of Widely-Cited Construction Spending Statistics?

October 06, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Every month, the Census Bureau publishes The Value of Construction Put in Place Survey, which is intended to provide monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the United States. As it relates to the residential ...

Filed Under
home improvement macro housing survey

In Face of New Tech, Biggest Broker Brands in Real Estate Continue to Take Share

October 06, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

To many stock investors, the residential brokerage industry is viewed through the eyes of publicly-traded Realogy given its quarterly financial disclosures. With its brokerage business consistently ceding market share in recent years and the ...

Filed Under
real estate services

Highlights from Zelman & Associates’ 10th Annual Housing Summit

September 22, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Last week, our firm celebrated its 10th Annual Housing Summit – an event that welcomes hundreds of our institutional investor clients and leading industry executives operating across all sectors tied to the housing market. Over the two-day ...

Filed Under
macro housing

Are Buffett, Japanese Companies the Catalysts to Unlock Innovation in Construction?

September 22, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this month, we discussed how labor constraints have resulted in construction cycle times becoming extended to the second longest level among expansion periods dating back to 1990, trailing only 2005 when industry ...

Filed Under
homebuilding macro housing

If Young Families Want Urban Living, is the Right Product Being Built?

September 22, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

We are of the opinion that while young adults are waiting longer to get married and form families relative to prior generations, there still exists a strong pull to the suburbs and single-family homes once they reach this point of their life, ...

Filed Under
apartments demographics

Given Tight Labor Market, Homebuilder Construction Cycles Extend Beyond Norms

September 08, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

As previously detailed, labor availability ranks among the biggest challenges for production builders in the current market, remarkably even with land availability, which is traditionally the most-cited hurdle ...

Filed Under
homebuilding housing starts

LIRA a Home Improvement Resource with Limitations Worth Recognizing

September 08, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) is a widely-respected research center that contributes various thoughtful analyses around the housing market and demographics. In 2007, the organization introduced The Leading ...

Filed Under
home improvement survey

Could Tight For-Sale Inventory Depress Consumer Enthusiasm Shortly?

August 25, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors released its estimate for July existing home closings. Adjusted for seasonality, transactions were up 2% year over year, leaving the trailing three-month average increase at a similar 2% level ...

Filed Under
existing home sales macro housing