Aug 20, 2017.
Least productive of them all. The Economist shows one reason why housing is so expensive and unaffordable.
Construction is the one of few industries with negative productivity growth, with 50% decline since 1960. This latest article from The Economist says the productivity in construction is reduced globally. Reasons are twofold: industry is hiring more workers to replace machinery and it has failed to consolidate. The industry has been burnt by past recessions and finds it easier to fire the workers than taking losses from in capital-heavy investments. US has 730,000 builders with average size of just ten, thus margins are very low. Additionally, tt is very hard to scale due to very high variation in building codes across the county requiring each project to start from scratch. Past attempts of mass producing houses failed resulting in setbacks & sour memories.
Previous charts-of-the-day:
Aug 20, 2017 – Construction productivity vs other industries (The Economist)
Aug 19, 2017 – no chart
Aug 18, 2017 – no chart
Aug 17, 2017 – Worth of money in parallel worlds (with housing leverage), $100k from Jan 2010 to Jun 2017
Aug 16, 2017 – no chart
Aug 15, 2017 – Worth of money in parallel worlds (long term trend), starting with $100k in Jun 1996
Aug 14, 2017 – Worth of money in parallel worlds, value of $100k invested in Jan 2010 worth in Jun 2017
Aug 13, 2017 – US consumer price index (cost-of-living index or inflation) – (2007-2017)
Aug 12, 2017 – US unemployment rate & wage growth (2010-2017)
Aug 11, 2017 – US home price change by state (1976-2017 & 2016-2017)
Aug 10, 2017 – Inflation plotted with US Treasury & Mortgage rates (2010-2016)
Aug 9, 2017 – US Treasury and Mortgage rates (2010-2016)
Aug 8, 2017 – Household credit score versus time (2001-2016)
Aug 7, 2017 – Monthly mortgage payment across key US metro regions (2012-2016)
Aug 6, 2017 – Good time to buy or good time to sell? Fannie Mae’s monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index (R)
Aug 5, 2017 – Buy versus Rent – Trulia’s calculator (Apr 2017)
Aug 4, 2017 – Annual change in US home prices across top 20 cities (May 2011- May 2017)
Aug 3, 2017 – Best time to get a deal: time period when best discounts are available in housing market
Aug 2, 2017 – Clark County, Washington state (Portland Metro area, OR) single family home prices (2012-2017)
Aug 1, 2017 – Multnomah County (Portland Metro area, OR) single family home prices (2012-2017)
July 31, 2017 – Washington County (Portland Metro area, OR) single family home prices (2012-2017)
July 28, 2017 – US home prices 1890-present
July 27, 2017 – Median house price for Portland Metro neighborhoods
July 26, 2017 – Average rent for Portland Metro region
July 25, 2017 – Path of total solar eclipse through Oregon
July 24, 2017 – Portland metro area household income by region