Last Friday’s WSJ highlighted, “New home sales fell 4.9% in the first half, a drop that could weigh on job creation in construction and reverberate throughout the broader economy.” Our industry might think otherwise. The January-May 2014 Cornell/SelectLeaders Job Barometer Report recorded a 113% increase from a year ago in job postings in the single-family housing sector. Between January and May single-family housing represented 14.4% of all CRE opportunities. Housing REITS certainly were a factor. Sales of previously-owned homes rose for the third straight month in June. Jobs in residential building rose 2.6% this year. Overall construction, including rehabilitation, may become a better indicator of the economy than looking only at new construction.
July 30, 2014
