Strategy in TECH...
For some time now, I have been dutifully reporting on the – at first subtle…now as subtle as a Mac truck – changes taking place in the housing market, clearly in decline after a stunning runup during the 2020-2021 COVID period. Certain economic segments, including Tech in general and custom integration specifically, benefitted from the COVID period forcing consumers to huddle in their homes.
In the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales of newly constructed homes (new home sales) in June returned to their months-long downward trend after a brief bump up in May. Another sign of a housing market in decline, rising mortgage rates combined with rising home prices have thrown cold water on what had been a very hot housing market over the last year-and-a-half.
After a dramatic double-digit drop in May, June housing starts declined again, with overall starts not only dropping below May’s rate to a nine-month low but also coming in well below the rate in June 2021. Single-family starts in June hit their lowest seasonally adjusted annual rate since July 2020.
The latest data on home affordability from the National Realtors Association, tracked in its Housing Affordability Index, shows that housing is at its least affordable level in 22 years. And that’s not just for first-time buyers, but for home upgraders as well. Not only that, but new economic data suggests that this declining housing affordability will remain an issue for some time yet to come.
Data released on Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that sales of newly constructed homes actually increased in May. At the same time, the National Association of Realtors released new data on pending home sales which also showed a surprise jump in contracts in May.
What’s going on? Is the housing market mounting a comeback?
A new report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notes that residential housing construction starts (housing starts) has taken a pretty severe downturn in May with overall starts sliding fully -14.4%. This is yet another indicator of the slowing growth in the housing market, as rising mortgage rates, overall inflation, and high housing prices begin to cool the once red-hot housing market.
In what is likely another sign of the housing market downturn, and perhaps a cooling of the overall economy, sales of luxury homes in the U.S. plummeted in the three-month period that ended in April, according to an analysis by Redfin Corp. as reported by Bloomberg News. The Redfin analysis covered the top 50 metropolitan areas and revealed the largest drop in sales of luxury properties since the onset of the pandemic.
Almost weekly now, we are regularly seeing new data showing the dramatic slowdown of the housing market. A case in point is the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association which tracks the weekly demand for mortgages for both home purchases and for refinancing. The Association reported that its index hit its lowest level in demand for mortgages in 22-years.
Sales of newly constructed homes virtually collapsed in April in a double-digit decline that surprised economists and added to the growing evidence that the housing market is entering a downturn. This downturn in housing adds to growing concerns of a recession, as it comes on the heels of the tech industry decline, and new retailer warnings of slackening demand and supply chain driven cost increases.
In yet another sign of a slowing economy, April residential housing construction starts declined for the second straight month in a row. At the same time, the Housing Market Index, a key gauge of homebuilder confidence, collapsed in May.
