In this month’s Window to the Law we learn important risk management strategies to help real estate licensees avoid the unlicensed practice of law.
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Builders Cited Labor and Land Shortage, Rising Lumber and Regulatory Costs as Top Barriers to Building More Homes
In Raleigh, 31.2 Percent of All Homes Sold in Q4 Were New Construction, the Highest Share of Any Metro
Seattle, WA – March 1, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) — New construction homes accounted for 16.4 percent of all single-family homes for sale in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from 14.2 a year earlier, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. The median price of new single-family homes that sold last quarter was $377,800, the analysis found, up 1.6 percent year over year. Compared with existing homes, new construction sold at an average premium of $86,400 in the fourth quarter. Existing home prices increased 7.3 percent year over year.
“New homes are more expensive than existing homes, and their prices tend to grow at a slower rate,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “However, new homes’ slower price growth belies their advantage to buyers in the hottest markets. Buyers in these highly competitive markets have been attracted to new construction as a way to avoid bidding wars. They often find it’s easier to negotiate with a single builder than to compete with several buyers and negotiate with a traditional seller.”
A key factor in the high price of new homes is rising construction costs. The estimated labor and materials cost of constructing a single-family home increased 1.2 percent year over year in the fourth quarter to $244,000, the highest level since the Census Bureau began reporting it in 1988.
Despite record-high construction costs, housing starts—the number of new residential homes that began construction—rose to 1.3 million in January, the strongest pace on record since 2007 and 7.3 percent above the January 2017 rate of 1.24 million. As housing starts provide insight into what’s ahead for the housing market, this growth marked a key milestone in post-downturn recovery for housing.
Still, the supply situation at present remains dire. In January, housing starts were 11.6 percent below the historical average (see chart). The total number of homes for sale in January was 14.4 percent below where it was a year prior, marking 28 consecutive months of declining inventory. With strong buyer demand expected to continue this year, there are still not nearly enough homes for sale. Though building more homes would seem like the obvious solution, a number of obstacles are standing in the way of construction.
“We are growing, but not fast enough to keep up with demand,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
So Why Aren’t More Homes Being Built?
The largest challenges facing homebuilders and hindering residential construction, according to Dietz, include:
Metro-Level Highlights for New Construction in the Fourth Quarter:
In conjunction with its quarterly report on new residential construction, Redfin makes available on its Data Center a downloadable set of data on new construction prices, sales, inventory and other new residential market statistics. Redfin is also releasing building permit data—provided by the Census—allowing users to analyze average construction costs and compare the number of units built per capita across regions. Both datasets are available for download at the National, Metro, and County Levels since 2012.
To read the full report, complete with data visualizations and downloadable datasets, please visit: www.redfin.com.
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $50 billion in home sales.
Washington, D.C. – February 28, 2018 (nar.realtor) After seeing a modest three-month rise in activity, pending home sales cooled considerably in January to their lowest level in over three years, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions experienced monthly and annual declines in contract signings last month.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* www.nar.realtor/pending-home-sales, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.7 percent to 104.6 in January from a downwardly revised 109.8 in December 2017. After last month’s retreat, the index is now 3.8 percent below a year ago and at its lowest level since October 2014 (104.1).
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says pending sales took a noticeable step back to start 2018. “The economy is in great shape, most local job markets are very strong and incomes are slowly rising, but there’s little doubt last month’s retreat in contract signings occurred because of woefully low supply levels and the sudden increase in mortgage rates,” said Yun. “The lower end of the market continues to feel the brunt of these supply and affordability impediments. With the cost of buying a home getting more expensive and not enough inventory, some prospective buyers are either waiting until listings increase come spring or now having to delay their search entirely to save up for a larger down payment.”
Added Yun, “Even though contract signings were down, Realtors® indicated that buyer traffic in most areas was up January compared to a year ago(1). The exception was likely in the Northeast, where the frigid cold snap the first two weeks of the month may have contributed some to the region’s large decline.”
The number of available listings at the end of January was at an all-time low for the month and a startling 9.5 percent below a year ago. In addition to new home construction making progress closer to its historical annual average of 1.5 million starts, Yun believes that two other factors must start occurring to alleviate the excruciatingly low supply levels that are slowing sales: institutional investors beginning to unload their portfolio of single-family properties back onto the market, and more hesitant homeowners deciding to sell.
“As new multi-family supply catches up with demand and slows rents, some large investors may begin putting their holdings of affordable single-family homes up for sale, which would be great news, particularly for first-time buyers,” said Yun. “Furthermore, sellers last year typically stayed in their home for 10 years before selling (an all-time high)(2); although higher mortgage rates will likely discourage some homeowners from wanting a new home with a higher rate, there are possibly many pent-up sellers who may look to finally trade-up or move down this year.”
In 2018, Yun forecasts for existing-home sales to be around 5.50 million – roughly unchanged from 2017 (5.51 million). The national median existing-home price this year is expected to increase around 2.7 percent. In 2017, existing sales increased 1.1 percent and prices rose 5.8 percent.
The PHSI in the Northeast dropped 9.0 percent to 87.0 in January, and is now 12.1 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest the index fell 6.6 percent to 98.2 in January, and is now 4.1 percent lower than January 2017.
Pending home sales in the South declined 3.9 percent to an index of 121.9 in January, and are now 1.1 percent lower than last January. The index in the West decreased 1.2 percent in January to 97.9, and is 2.5 percent below a year ago.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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1. In NAR’s January Realtors® Confidence Index, the Buyer Traffic Index came in at 69 in January, up from 63 in January 2017.
2. According to NAR’s 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, recent sellers typically lived in their home for 10 years before selling, which was an all-time survey high dating back to 1981.
* The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.
NOTE: NAR’s February Housing Minute video will be shared later today at 2:00 p.m., Existing-Home Sales for February will be reported March 21, and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be March 28; all release times are 10:00 a.m. ET.