Home>>

U.S. needs more homes, but builders may be slowing construction: report

(Xinhua) 14:50, June 18, 2022

NEW YORK, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Rising interest rates and record home prices are making it impossible for many Americans to buy a house, and that's making builders less confident that if they build a home they'll be able to sell it, reported the National Public Radio (NPR) on Wednesday.

"That could be a very big problem because the main reason home prices have risen so much in recent years is that the country is in the midst of a historic housing shortage," said the report.

A new poll conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) showed that builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes is at its lowest level since June 2020 after six straight months of decline, "a clear sign of a slowing housing market in a high inflation, slow growth economic environment," NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter was quoted as saying.

The poll measures builder perceptions of current and future single-family home sales, and the traffic of prospective buyers. All three categories posted declined in the latest monthly data with buyer traffic falling most sharply, a sign that homebuyers, especially first-time ones, are giving up, said the report.

The United States is about 4 million homes short of what's needed to keep up with demand, according to Freddie Mac. "After the housing bubble burst, many builders went out of business and construction slowed. That lack of supply has been pushing home prices higher in recent years," it added. 

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)

Photos