The Industrial Heating Equipment Association’s monthly economic executive summary reported very strong gains for both automotive and light truck sales as well as new home starts. Regarding new home starts, here is an extended quote for the 12-page monthly report available in full to IHEA members:
The news in the housing sector is very good right now and that is in the face of those headwinds that have been referenced all year. Thus far the consumer is shrugging out the higher price of homes as well as the bigger down payments and there has been buying at a variety of levels – from the starter home to the much more expensive “McMansion.” The fastest growing segment is still the multi-family home and there are still major shortages of this kind of abode. The recovery this month after a down period the month before is somewhat related to the weather, but not as much as would have been assumed this time of year. There is evidence that housing activity is surging in the jobs data as well – over 60,000 jobs added in construction this month. The majority of these are in the housing sector as there has not been a huge recovery in either commercial construction or in public sector activity.
The dozen indicators reported were split evenly between those that were up and those that were down. Significant is the fact that the PMI saw a slight dip but has been strong, in the mid-sixties, for quite some time, reaching a peak in December 2017 at 70.
Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the full report which includes statistics and analysis of the following indicators should contact Anne Goyer, Executive Director of IHEA. You can email Anne by clicking here.
