search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion

Housing looks good for 2015

Single-family housing construction will see a boost this year.

By Kelly Faloon
Veteran's Day
February 24, 2015

Single-family housing construction will see a boost this year due to a strengthening labor market, low interest rates, improving mortgage availability and growing pent-up demand, reported economists at the International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas Jan. 20-22.

“The signs point to a more robust year for housing,” said David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. “Household balance sheets are returning to normal levels, home owners’ equity is increasing and significant pent-up demand is rising. More than 7 million existing home sales were postponed or lost during the downturn; and while some are lost forever, we should see some catch-up.”

The U.S. Commerce Department reports that overall housing starts were more than 1 million units last year. Single-family housing production rose 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 728,000 in 2014; it is estimated to rise 26% in 2015 to 804,000 units.

The ongoing housing recovery will see single-family starts steadily climb from 49% of normal production at the end of the third quarter of 2014 all the way up to 90% of normal by the end of 2016, Crowe said. Examining the recovery on a state level, by the end of 2016, the top 40% of states will be back to near normal production levels, compared to the bottom 20%, which will still be below 75%.

Construction consulting firm FMI predicts residential construction growth of 14% in 2015 and a bit lower through 2018. “Consumers have more confidence, so those looking to buy a home are more likely to do so as long as those numbers look good,” the report notes. “Nonetheless, there is still some reluctance for first-time homebuyers as more move to the city and look for rental residences; thus rents have gone up and vacancies have gone down.”

Multifamily construction is still expected to grow at a healthy pace of 13% in 2015, after reaching a near-record pace in 2014, notes FMI. On the multifamily front, NAHB is anticipating 358,000 starts in 2015, up 2% from last year.

Although NAHB’s Crowe and other panelists are optimistic about the future of multifamily housing market, there are still challenges that face the industry such as increasing costs and availability of labor. But demand for apartments is strong enough for developers to proceed in most markets, the panelists noted.

Another bright spot this year will be the over-55 market; the steady rise of this population group will influence housing.

“The 55-plus housing market has been one of the healthiest segments of the overall housing market, and is likely to remain that way over the next several years,” said Paul Emrath, NAHB’s vice president of survey and housing policy research. “When you look at age-restricted single-family starts, there were as many in the first half of 2014 as in all of 2012.”

 

Residential remodeling

Residential remodeling is set for modest growth in 2015, said experts at a press conference hosted by the NAHB at IBS. Remodelers appearing on the panel agreed with the forecast, citing home owners’ changing demographics and increased financial security as the cause. NAHB projects that residential remodeling spending on owner-occupied single-family homes will increase a modest 3% in 2015 over 2014, and another 1.5% in 2016.

“Existing homes sales and house prices both hit soft spots in 2014 that dealt a glancing blow to residential remodeling businesses,” Emrath said. “We expect those drags are behind us in 2015, an outlook consistent with the optimism expressed by remodeler members in our recent Remodeling Market Index survey.”

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry released Jan. 9 its fourth-quarter Remodeling Business Pulse data of current and future remodeling business conditions that continues to point to growth. About 67% of remodelers nationwide are seeing growth compared to only 15% who are reporting declines.

“There has been long-term improvement in sales value, which indicates that larger projects are making a comeback,” said Tom O’Grady, chairman of NARI’s Strategic Planning & Research Committee and president of O’Grady Builders. “Consumers are feeling that the economy will be good for the foreseeable future.”

While housing conditions are not the same in all areas of the country, the industry is optimistic about residential construction in the next few years. Is your company ready? Do you have enough staff? Do you provide the proper training? Do you have the right systems and processes in place so that your technicians — and your company — can succeed? Take stock of your business and make sure you can take advantage of the increased work that is coming your way.


HELPFUL LINKS:

  • Contact Us
  • STAY CONNECTED WITH US VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
KEYWORDS: construction housing market remodeling residential construction

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Kelly june 2015 200

Kelly Faloon was a former editor of Plumbing & Mechanical as well as the BNP Media Plumbing Group’s Integrated Content Development Specialist. She also was a former editor of the Radiant Comfort Guide the Radiant & Hydronics Report — both official publications of the Radiant Professionals Alliance — and twice-monthly Radiant & Hydronics eNews, an enewsletter for anyone interested in the world of heating with hot water.

Her editorial specialties included women in plumbing, recruiting for the trades, green construction techniques, water conservation, water treatment, hydronic heating, radiant heating and cooling, snow melt, solar thermal and geothermal.

After a 3½-year stint at sister publication Supply House Times, Faloon joined the PM staff in December 2001 as senior editor. She was named PM’s managing editor in 2006 and editor in 2013.

Previously, she spent nearly 10 years at CCH, a publishing firm specializing in business and tax law, where she wore many hats — proofreader, writer/editor for a daily tax publication, and Internal Revenue Code editor.

 A native of Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, Faloon is a 1986 journalism graduate of Michigan State University. 

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Green Plumbing and Mechanical
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

The interior of a government building.

President Trump signs executive order promoting skilled trades and apprenticeships

Figure 1 is a sketch of the flow problems of the current plumbing system.

Hydronic heating glitch solved: Why adding a circulator won't fix primary loop flow issue

Underfloor heating installation with drain sewer hole in bathroom close up on water floor heating.

Using hydronics to leverage time-of-use electrical rates

PM BEMIS June 25 Free Webinar: Optimizing Plumbing Solutions for Single-Family, Multi-Family & Public Spaces

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

Related Articles

  • featured

    'Healthy outlook' for nonresidential construction in 2015

    See More
  • Feb. 28, 2007 - Home Depot Looks To The Trades To Beef Up Retail Stores

    See More
  • Headlines

    "New Horizons" for PHCC members at CONNECT 2015

    See More
×

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing