Housing: Getting Back to Work

July 18, 2012

Housing: Getting Back to Work

Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for July shows that while the construction industry continues to struggle on the jobs front, data suggests this sector is ready to get back to work.

Important highlights from the report include:

The unemployment rate for construction workers was 12.8 percent in June with nearly 48 percent out of work for at least six months, both metrics well above the national figure.
Over the past 12 months overall payroll employment across all industries was up 1.8 million, yet construction employment was up a mere 13,000, well below the sector's share of total employment (about 4.3 percent).
Regardless, hiring in the construction sector has increased on a year-over-year basis, and the unemployment rate for construction workers has fallen 2.8 percentage points since June 2011.
A gradual strengthening of economic growth in the second half of 2012 should rebuild job growth back to an average monthly pace of 150,000.
Expect fixed mortgage rates to remain at or near their historic lows fueling housing demand with a continued pick-up in housing starts, home sales, and even house prices in many markets.

According to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, "While housing may not have played its traditional role coming out of the Great Recession, at the end of the day, it has turned a very large corner and now it's time to get this sector back to work whether through construction jobs, remodeling, or home brokerage."

Source: Freddie Mac

Posted in Real Estate Investing

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