Business Contact Surveys: Construction and Real Estate
January 2012
Reports from southeastern brokers indicated sales growth weakened during November on a year-over-year basis but remained positive. Builders indicated that new home sales in November rebounded, with most indicating that sales were flat to slightly up compared with a year earlier.
Southeast contacts reported that home inventories continued to decline on a year-over-year basis.
Southeast contacts continued to report downward pressure on home prices.
Southeast residential brokers indicated that buyer traffic remained above the year-earlier level in November, while half of builders reported a pickup in buyer interest.
Both builders and brokers indicated that sales growth will improve modestly on a year-over-year basis.
Southeast builders reported that construction activity improved notably, as did their outlook for activity.
Note: The poll results are based on responses from 69 residential brokers and 39 builders. Responses were collected December 5–14.
The housing survey's diffusion indexes are calculated as the percentage of total respondents reporting increases minus the percentage reporting declines. Positive values in the index indicate increased activity; negative values indicate decreased activity.