Rising mortgage rates in June, coupled with elevated construction costs and supply chain issues for electrical transformers, acted as headwinds on the new home sales market.

Builders are feeling cautiously optimistic about market conditions given low levels of existing home inventory and ongoing gradual improvements for supply chains.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) redesigned its Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) in the first quarter of 2023 to make it easier to interpret and more similar to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for single-family housing.

A lack of existing inventory and stabilizing mortgage rates helped push single-family production up to the highest rate thus far in 2023 even as builders continue to deal with high construction costs, persistent labor shortages and tightening credit conditions for construction loans.  

Limited existing inventory, which has put a renewed emphasis on new construction, resulted in a solid gain for builder confidence in May even as the industry continues to face several challenges, including building material supply chain disruptions and tightening credit conditions for construction loans.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing the housing industry, has named James W. Tobin III as the association’s new president and chief executive officer. 

For the fourth straight month, builder confidence has increased due to a lack of resale inventory despite elevated interest rates, according to NAHB.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter, posting a reading of 70, edging up one point compared to the previous quarter. 

In recognition of New Homes Month in April, it is important to highlight that taxpayers are taking advantage of new home energy-efficiency related tax credits. A recent Internal Revenue Service data analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicates that more than 800,000 taxpayers claimed a new home-related energy-efficiency tax incentive.  

Builder sentiment has been edging higher in the early part of 2023 as a significant amount of housing demand exists on the sidelines and resale inventory is limited.