National vacancy rates for owner-occupied housing decreased 0.1 percentage points in the first quarter of 2010 to 2.6 percent, according to the Dept. of Commerce’s Census Bureau.  Meanwhile, vacancy rates nationwide for rental housing increased 0.5 percentage points to 10.6 percent during the same period.  The homeownership rate of 67.1 percent was 0.2 percentage points [...]

The annual pace of construction spending topped $1 trillion for the 24th consecutive month in June 2006, rising 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.22 trillion, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. Construction spending totaled $569.3 billion during the first half of 2006, up 8.5% over construction spending during [...]

The confidence level of the nation’s home builders continues to decline in 2006, falling this month to its lowest reading since April 1995, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The seasonally adjusted HMI stands at 42, down four points from May’s revised reading of 46. An HMI above 50 [...]

Healthy demand for space is driving commercial real estate markets with solid fundamentals and strong investment activity, according to the National Association of Realtors.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said fundamentals are improving with tightening vacancies. “Rent growth in commercial space is gaining traction, although there is some softness in part of the retail sector,” he [...]

One question market watchers are asking is - will the record level of commercial investment transactions that occurred in 2005 continue unabated in 2006?
A total of $268 billion worth of investment-grade commercial real estate (properties valued at over $5.0 million) traded hands last year. This value represented an increase of 44% over transaction volume in [...]