Robert Dietz on why the single-family rental market is growing

Today’s HousingWire Daily features an interview with Robert Dietz, chief economist and senior vice president of economics and housing policy for the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB).

In this episode, Dietz explains why the marketshare of single-family rentals is growing despite strong homebuyer demand. He also discusses the NAHB’s latest Housing Market index, which found that homebuilder confidence is climbing across the nation.

Here is a small preview of the interview, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Alcynna Lloyd: For much of 2020 and 2021, the homebuilding sector has faced its fair of challenges, including the previously mentioned concerns relating to prices and material. Have these challenges moderated or declined during the year or have they worsened?

Robert Dietz: It’s a little of both. If you think back to 2020, housing was clearly a bright spot for the economy as we saw an acceleration of housing demand. This all occurred in an environment where we lacked housing inventory and were underbill. During this time, lumber was the first commodity in the supply chain that really indicated we were going to face the issues we currently see for the overall economy, in terms of a lack of materials and other kinds of supply chain issues, which are, of course, an important part of the inflation discussion. Lumber prices have come down, they were up above about $1,500 per 1000 board feet and right now, they’re right around $550 per 1000 board feet and headed a little bit higher. So, that’s down but it’s higher than where we started. This does represent a supply chain type of issue. What’s gotten worse is the availability of just about every other type of material. So, materials like windows, doors, flooring, appliances, and literally even the kitchen sink, in some cases are more expensive, and they’re taking longer to arrive. So, some buyers and architects need to make design decisions earlier in the process. And unfortunately, I do think those supply chain issues are going to persist well into 2022.

HousingWire Daily examines the most compelling articles reported across HW Media. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsrooms that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd and Elissa Branch. If you have a pitch or an inquiry relating to podcasts, you can reach our team at [email protected].