Content about David Crowe

April 8, 2013
Mixed messages in home metrics

While housing starts and building permits continue to trend higher, builder confidence, which often dovetails nicely with housing construction figures, has dipped over the last few months.

So what gives?

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which, in conjunction with Wells Fargo, publishes the builder confidence index, waning confidence is not necessarily due to diminishing demand for new homes.

February 21, 2013
The Forecast Issue

An intelligent analysis of 2013 forecasts for the hardware and building material industries must begin with the recognition of a term that has entered the lexicon of economic forecasting and business predicting.

The term is "head fake."

January 23, 2013
At Builders’ Show, NAHB raises forecast for starts

Las Vegas -- The National Association of Home Builders sees the residential construction industry gaining momentum in a larger economy that includes a few wild cards.

November 15, 2012
Ogden, Utah, leads rise in housing affordability

Although home prices are starting to inch up in metro areas around the country, lower interest rates continue to make homes more affordable to median-income families, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).

July 17, 2012
Builder confidence rises for July

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose six points for July on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the largest one-month gain recorded by the index in nearly a decade, and brings the HMI to its highest point -- 35 -- since March 2007.

April 16, 2012
Builder confidence slips in March

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes declined for the first time in seven months this April, sliding three notches to 25 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The decline brings the index back to where it was in January, which was the highest level since 2007.

February 10, 2012
Building booms, past and present, are hot topics at IBS

Orlando, Fla. -- Perhaps the second half of the seminar title said it all: “How long can the good times last?” A large group of skittish apartment and condo builders attended the multi-family forecast of David Crowe, the chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), here on the second day of the International Builders' Show. What they hoped to hear was that the high demand for rental units will continue to fuel multi-family starts, which continue to outpace single family starts.

February 9, 2012
At IBS: The case for double-digit growth

Orlando, Fla. -- The official housing forecast from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is similar to last year's forecast -- with pent-up demand and improving demographics pointing toward growth in the double-digit percentages.

January 9, 2012
Steep jump in improving housing markets

The list of improving U.S. housing markets tracked by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) almost doubled in January 2012 with the addition of 40 new metro areas. The NAHB’s First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) now counts 76 improving markets, up from 41 in December, with 31 states and the District of Columbia represented by at least one entry.

February 16, 2011
Single-family starts challenged by weather, financing

Bad weather deserves part of the blame for the decline in January single-family housing starts, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Government data released Wednesday morning showed single-family starts for January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 413,000, down 1.0% from December. Total starts increased 14.6%. 

February 1, 2011
Postcards from the Show

As a result of too much good material and not enough space, here is a collection of semi-random notes from the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.  


• Question: Does anybody really pay $99 a day for Internet connection — the asking price at the convention center? 


• I told my cab driver what I was doing in Orlando. 


“That’s funny,” he said. 


“Why?”


January 19, 2011
Home builders not surprised by lackluster starts

The housing starts pace of 529,000 was the lowest since October 2009, and consistent with what builders have been saying in recent surveys, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

January 17, 2011
Villain emerges at Builders' Show: MID reform

Orlando -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) made it very clear during the International Builders' Show that it's prepared to fight for the mortgage interest deduction. 

January 14, 2011
At IBS, credit availability subdues forecasts

Orlando, Fla. -- The International Builders' Show has become an annual launching pad for housing forecasts, and this year’s numbers came with a healthy dose of guarded optimism. David Crowe, chief economist from event sponsor National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), predicted a 21% increase in single family housing starts in 2011, with 575,000 new units compared to 475,000 in 2010.

January 13, 2011
NAHB forecasts 20% growth in starts

Orlando, Fla. -- The annual Housing and Economic Outlook at the 2011 International Builders' Show had some relatively good news for attendees.

December 13, 2010
Outlook positive for multi-family sector

A survey of multi-family builders and property managers by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicates an improvement in housing starts and a decline in vacancies compared with the previous quarter, both of which spell positive news for apartment and condo builders across the United States.

The NAHB Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased to a value of 35.6 for the third quarter of 2010, up from the 26.6 level reported for the second quarter. This is the highest the MPI has been since 2007.

October 3, 2010
Home builders react to starts

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) interpreted the 10.5% rise in August housing starts...

September 21, 2010
Home builders react to starts data

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) interpreted the 10.5% rise in August housing starts...

June 22, 2010
Bucking the trend: smaller homes

It's a long way from 1973, when "single family" usually meant "single story." But numbers clearly show a dip in the size of new American houses.

After three decades of steadily expanding home sizes, the average area of a new house competed in the United States is down  more than 80 square feet from its 2007 peak, according to statistics released recently by the Census Bureau. The average size of a house nationwide declined to 2,438 square feet in 2009. At its peak, the figure was 2,521 square feet.

June 15, 2010
Builder confidence declines in June

(Jun. 15) Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes dropped five points in June to 17, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo House Market Index (HMI).

The June figure brings the index back to February levels before the beginning of the home buyer tax credit surge.

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