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2010 Overview of U.S. Housing Market Conditions

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10 March 2011    
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2010 Overview of U.S. Housing Market Conditions

USHMCThe latest U.S. Housing Market Conditions report provides an overview of both fourth quarter and annual 2010 housing market conditions. The annual analysis indicates that, in both the single-family and multifamily sectors, permits and starts increased, although completions declined. Shipments of manufactured homes increased 0.4 percent in 2010, the first increase in annual shipments since 2005. The marketing sector performed less well, with both new and existing home sales declining. The median price of new homes sold rose during 2010, while remaining steady for existing homes sold. Housing affordability improved during the year, although homeownership rates for the nation and for most groups declined. The housing sector component of GDP (residential fixed investment) declined in 2010, but by a much slower rate than in 2009.

See the report for the analysis of data for the fourth quarter of 2010, profiles of economic and housing market activity in each of HUD’s 10 regions, historical trends in national and regional housing markets, and a feature article titled “What Do We Know About Single-Family Rental Properties?” that is based on 2009 American Housing Survey data.
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Key Findings

  • Builders took out permits for 447,100 new single-family and 131,000 multifamily homes in 2010, an increase of 3% and 11% respectively from 2009.


  • Housing starts totaled 471,000 single-family units and 105,000 multifamily units in 2010, up 6% and 8% respectively from the previous year.


  • Construction was completed on 497,000 new single-family housing units and 148,000 new multifamily units, down 4% and 43% respectively from 2009.


  • The number of new single-family homes sold in 2010 fell by 14% from 2009. The median price of new homes sold in 2010 was $221,900, up 2.4% from the prior year.


  • NAR reported that 4.908 million existing single-family homes sold in 2010, a 5% decrease from 2009. The median price of existing homes sold in 2010 was $173,000, nearly the same as in 2009.


  • Builders were just slightly more optimistic in 2010. The NAHB/Wells Fargo composite Housing Market Index averaged 16 points, up 1 point from 2009. The 2009 value was the lowest annual value in the 25-year history of this attitude survey.


  • The average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages in 2010, as reported by Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, was 4.69% — 35 basis points below the 2009 annual average rate, which set a record low.


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