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Confidence Builds in 55+ Market11-17-15 | News

Confidence Builds in 55+ Market
Housing Index Jumps 3 Points

The National Association of Home Builders' third-quarter 55+ Housing Market Index climbed three points higher to a reading of 60.

The pace of building homes, condominiums and apartments for the demographic group of people age 55 and older was brisk in the third quarter.

Good enough, in fact, for builder-members of the National Association of Home Builders to upgrade its 55+ Housing Market Index by three points.

It now stands at 60, well above the HMI's benchmark of 50. This is also the sixth straight quarter that this index has been above 50, the NAHB said. A reading higher than 50 indicates more builders view conditions as good than poor.

"Builders have a positive outlook on the 55+ housing market," Timothy McCarthy, chairman of NAHB's 55+ Housing Industry Council, said. "The markets for single-family, apartments and condos are all doing quite well, and we expect that trend to continue."

The 55+ HMI is comprised of two components, one for single-family homes and the other for multifamily condos. Each of these measures builder sentiment about current sales, prospective buyer traffic and anticipated six-month sales.

In the single-family HMI: present sales increased three points to 65; expected sales for the next six months rose one point to 67; and traffic of prospective buyers climbed three points to 46.

In the multifamily condo HMI: present sales jumped 10 points to 54; expected sales for the next six months rose seven points to 56; but traffic of prospective buyers slid one point to 40.

"Like the overall housing market, we continue to see steady, positive growth in the 55+ market," David Crowe, chief economist for the NAHB, said. "With the economy and job growth continuing to improve gradually, many consumers are now able to sell their current homes at a suitable price, enabling them to buy or rent in a 55+ community."

Source: National Association of Home Builders
Website link: https://tinyurl.com/pa3m8vm

Construction Jobs Picture Changes in October
The construction industry has been hard-pressed to add jobs lately, but October is a much different story. Builders and contractors added more jobs in the month than they have in the previous four months combined, the Associated Builders and Contractors said.

Construction also led all sectors in jobs gained for the month, as building companies beefed up their respective payrolls with a net 31,000 new jobs. This follows a net gain of 12,000 jobs for the industry in September.

Overall, construction employment increased by 0.48 percent for the month, more than any other industry, the ABC said.

Employment in nonresidential construction increased by 20,100 jobs in October, following a gain of 11,100 jobs in September.

The residential construction sector added 6,000 jobs in October, and 6,100 during the prior month, while employment in civil and heavy engineering increased by 4,800 jobs.

"Over the past year, nonresidential construction employment has expanded by 113,100 jobs, or 3.9 percent, which is particularly impressive given the ongoing difficulties many contractors experienced filling available job openings," said Anirban Basu, ABC's chief economist.

Construction's unemployment rate actually rose by 0.7 percentage points to 6.2 percent in October. "This is very good news because it indicates that more people are again looking to construction as a source of gainful employment," the ABC said.

"The overall economy added 271,000 net new jobs in October, far above the consensus estimate of around 175,000," Basu said. "The three-month average gain stands at 187,000 net new jobs.

Residential building employment expanded by 2,400 jobs in October and is up by 25,100 jobs or 3.7 percent year-to-year. Residential contractors added 3,600 net new jobs in October, and gained 74,000 jobs or 4.4 percent since October 2014.

Nonresidential construction employment fell by 1,000 jobs in October, but is up by 14,500 jobs or 2.1 percent on a yearly basis. Nonresidential contractors added 21,100 jobs for the month, and expanded by 98,600 jobs or 4.5 percent from the same time a year earlier.

"The nation's unemployment rate is down to 5 percent, and the so-called real rate of unemployment stands at 9.8 percent, a multi-year low," Basu said. "Wages are up 2.5 percent on a year-to-year basis, the fastest pace of wage growth since 2009. All of this suggests that the chances for a Federal Reserve rate hike in December have expanded massively with today's release."

The heavy and civil engineering construction segment added 4,800 jobs in October, and is up by 20,700 positions or 2.2 percent on a year-to-year basis.

Source: Association of Builders and Contractors
Website link: https://tinyurl.com/q3gqcw6