New Home Construction Stuck At Half Pre-Recession Levels

America's last economic boom was based on construction and re-modeling.

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Housing's trials and tribulations, and why they matter

Missing in the housing market recovery: new houses. "More than five years after the crash, homebuilding is stuck at half its normal level. That's a big drag on the economy. And things aren't looking much better....This severe slump in single-family home construction has been going on across the country. We haven't seen anything close to this kind of a long-term construction slump since World War II....Homebuilding remains a kind of sleeping giant. If it wakes up, it could create a lot of good-paying construction jobs and manufacturing jobs at companies making everything from windows to dishwashers to lawn mowers. When housing really recovers it can offer a real boost to the economy." Chris Arnold in NPR.

Homebuilder confidence falls to lowest level in a year. "Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped in May to the lowest level in a year, showing the residential real estate market may be slow to recover after an unusually harsh winter. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment gauge fell to 45 this month, the weakest since May 2013, from a revised 46 in April that was lower than initially reported, figures from the Washington-based group showed today. Readings less than 50 mean fewer respondents report good market conditions." Michelle Jamrisko in Bloomberg.

Realtors have a long-term young-buyers problem. "The U.S. housing market is strengthening after a tough winter, according to economists at a Realtors convention in Washington. But even as the short-term outlook brightens, they remain worried about a long-term problem with 'missing' young buyers. 'There really are serious issues in the first-time-buyer market,' Eric Belsky, managing director of Harvard's Joint Center of Housing Studies, told the National Association of Realtors....He estimates that nearly 3 million more young adults are living with their parents compared with 2007 -- before the Great Recession had settled in."Marilyn Geewax in NPR.

But foreclosures are down to near pre-crisis levels. "The U.S. housing market's recovery is still a work in progress, but the problem that got us here in the first place -- waves of foreclosures that decimated prices and neighborhoods -- is steadily fading into the rearview mirror." Conor Dougherty in The Wall Street Journal.

Is China's housing bubble popping? Matt O'Brien.