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Average property insurance costs have risen nearly 70% over the past five years, now totaling nearly $2,370 for the average single-family home Property insurance costs continue to climb around the U.S., with the average insurance payment now totaling nearly $2,370 per year for single-family homes. This yearly cost now equates to approximately 9.6% of average monthly mortgage-related expenses, according to ICE …

With zoning regulations, rising costs, and an ongoing housing shortage, even smaller homes are becoming expensive. n the past, it was common for Americans to move to cheaper, suburban areas to afford larger homes, but that’s changing. While the average size of new homes has slightly decreased over the past five years, rising land, labor, and lending costs mean that smaller …

Construction workers continue to earn more than the average US employee, but which roles earn the most? In 2024, construction workers earned more than the average U.S. worker, with half of them making over $60,320 per year and the top 25% earning at least $81,510. Comparatively, the national median income is just $49,500 with the top 25% of earners making …

The average completion time of a single-family house in 2023 was approximately 10.1 months, breaking down to 1.5 months for authorization to start construction and another 8.6 months to finish construction. According to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, the permit-to-completion time has been on an upward trend since 2015. Currently, it is almost 3 months longer than the average completion …

Mortgage rates continued to decline in the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey published by Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC). The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.35% as of Aug. 29, down from last week when it averaged 6.46%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 7.18%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.51%, down from last week when it averaged 5.62%. A …

Shawn Woods is president of Ashlar Homes LLC in Blue Springs, Missouri. This article is adapted and edited from testimony delivered last week on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security.   The primary and persistent challenge of the housing market is a …

Feel like Houston is building more homes than ever? You are not far off.  The Houston area led the nation in residential building permits last year, according to U.S. Census data analyzed by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. In 2023, the Houston metropolitan statistical area issued a total of 68,755. Of those, 50,444 were for single-family homes.   …

Home prices have risen twice as fast as inflation for 60 years — but that trend may be reversing. by Emily Mack  March 14, 2024 U.S. home prices are 24 times higher than they were in 1963 — while overall inflation is just 10 times higher. This means home prices have outpaced inflation by more than twice over. And that trend has …

Texas counties lead the U.S. in population growth, Census says Six out of the 10 fastest-growing counties in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023 are in Texas, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Kaufman County, just east of Dallas, led the list with a 7.6% increase that brought its population over 185,000, Census data shows. Rockwall and Liberty …

Materials Remain Top Challenge for Builders, but New Issues Are Becoming Increasingly Problematic   The price and availability of building materials again topped the list of problems builders faced last year, but interest rates, general inflation and negative media moved considerably up the list. According to responses on the January 2023 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), building material prices …