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Chinese investors sold off billions more in U.S. commercial property last year than they bought, as other foreigners start to sour on the U.S. market as well.
Foreign investors were net sellers of U.S. commercial real estate last year for the first time since 2012, posing a fresh setback for a market that is already showing signs of strain.
— The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal reports that foreign investors sold $20 billion more in real estate than they bought last year as a number of international economic trends, including Brexit and an ongoing effort by the Chinese government to bring investment back home, converge to make the American real... View full entry
After a somewhat bumpy spring and summer, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) closed out the year on a positive note with three consecutive months of modest growth. A strong winter Architecture Billings Index Score for December: 52.5Project inquiries index: 58.7Design contracts index: 53.4 A new... View full entry
U.S. homebuilding surged to a 13-year high in December as activity increased across the board, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on track amid low mortgage rates, and could help support the longest economic expansion on record.
Housing starts jumped 16.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.608 million units last month, the highest level since December 2006.
— CNBC
A report from CNBC highlights the rising fortunes of the American housing market, which saw homebuilding activities increase to record levels in December 2019. According to the report, the number of housing units started in 2019—1.290 million homes in total, including 916,000 single-family... View full entry
There were highs and lows for New York real estate this year. Sales records were broken, but the overall market hit the brakes, even as mortgage rates stayed low. Design took center stage in many new developments, and Hudson Yards opened to great fanfare. — The New York Times
The New York Times takes a look back at the 2019 real estate highlights in the nation's biggest city. The roundup features a number of property stories that were also published (and some hotly debated) on Archinect, including the recently opened, Robert A.M. Stern-designed 220 Central Park... View full entry
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) registered positive growth for American architecture firms during the month of November 2019. According to a newly published report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the ABI scored at 51.9 last month, signaling the second month of modest... View full entry
According to a recently published report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is showing signs of a rebound after showing consistently mixed results over recent months. September's Architecture Billings Index: Better than August, but that's... View full entry
According to a recently published report from Dodge Data & Analytics, a broadly based slowdown in the construction industry registered an 11% drop in construction starts for the month of October. The report finds that the American economy generated $696.3 billion in construction... View full entry
Among the more than 16,200 condo units across 682 new buildings completed in New York City since 2013, one in four remain unsold, or roughly 4,100 apartments — most of them in luxury buildings, according to a new analysis by the listing website StreetEasy. [...]
Already the prices at several new towers have been reduced, either directly or through concessions like waived common charges and transfer taxes, and some may soon be forced to cut deeper.
— The New York Times
Despite record-breaking residential construction in New York City, sales of apartments have slowed steadily in recent years. NYT real estate reporter Stefanos Chen has analyzed the latest numbers of unsold units, especially in the higher price ranges, following a glut of inventory in newly... View full entry
According to a new report set to be released by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) measuring recent economic activity in the architecture sector, the demand for design services has fallen to a new low this summer. The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for the month of August, for... View full entry
The latest compensation survey conducted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has found that in recent years, as demand for design services has increased and unemployment has fallen to historic lows, average pay for architecture staff has increased by over $10,000. The report credits a... View full entry
Demand for design services in July remained essentially flat in comparison to the previous month, according to a new report released today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).
AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 50.1 in July showed a small increase in design services since June, which was a score of 49.1.
— AIA
"The data is not the same as what we saw leading up to the last economic downturn, but the continued slowing across the board will undoubtedly impact architecture firms and the broader construction industry in the coming months," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. "A growing... View full entry
The No. 1 business issue for home builders, remodelers, and land developers continues to be access to skilled labor. According to NAHB analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, as of April of this year there were 404,000 open construction sector positions. Not only is this level of unfilled jobs in the construction industry at a post–Great Recession high, the current estimate is the highest ever reading for this data series, which runs back two decades. — Builder
According to Builder, "the intensity of the labor shortage among builders grew more intense during 2018 and 2019." The challenges of this shortage on the construction industry bring higher costs, delays, and lower output on projects. Economist, Robert Dietz, Ph.D. suggests that, "Wage growth... View full entry
With affordable homes already in short supply around the U.S., house-hunters this spring faced another challenge: surging prices. Median home prices in the second quarter surged to a record high $266,000 for single family-homes and condos, according to a recent report from property research firm ATTOM Data Solutions. That's up 6% from about $250,000 a year ago. — CBS News
"U.S. homeowners who sold in the second quarter of 2019 realized an average home price gain since purchase of $67,500, up from an average gain of $57,706 in Q1 2019 and up from an average gain of $60,100 in Q2 2018," states the July ATTOM report. The locations with the highest average home seller... View full entry
Despite recent warnings from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of weakening billings numbers among architecture firms, the organization continues to forecast positive economic growth for the construction industry into 2020, with several caveats. According to AIA's Consensus... View full entry
Challenging conditions in the U.S. housing market, along with tighter currency controls by the Chinese government, caused a stunning drop in foreign demand for American homes.
The dollar volume of homes purchased by foreign buyers from April 2018 through March 2019 dropped 36% from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors.
— CNBC
NAR’s Profile of International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate 2019 survey reports that "for the seventh consecutive year, China exceeded all other countries in terms of dollar volume of purchases, buying an estimated $13.4 billion worth of residential property, a 56% decline from... View full entry
