Housing Has Legs

Surprisingly strong housing numbers out this morning: new single-family homes rose 16.6% in April to an annual pace of 616,000 (see chart below), well above expectations, and up 23.8% over the past year. Supply of new homes fell to just 4.7 months, all due to faster sales (inventories were flat). Sales are up strongly in the Northeast, solidly in the South and West, although down in the Midwest. The median ($321,100) and average ($379,800) prices jumped 9.7% and 13.5%, respectively, the last year.

There is more to come. The graph below shows the data from 1963. We may never reach the 2005 peak of 1.328 million (or, maybe we will), but housing will continue to strengthen because job growth and wages are rising, and home ownership is still low. Housing has legs.

• 16 May, 2019

  Bring Home the Bacon

  Bacon sure is popular. McDonalds, which probably has the best pulse on Americans culinary tastes, introduced Cheesy ...

• 28 Jan, 2015

  Consensus

  Europe is a mess, everyone agrees: poor demographics, sclerotic and oppressive regulation, political dysfunction. ...

• 15 Oct, 2014

  Panic!

  Like Scary Nights at Universal Studios (where my daughter went this weekend), it really is scary out there. I Walked ...