The Quikrete Industry Dashboard
The latest Quikrete Industry Dashboard shows that gas prices continue to rise.
AAA reports that the national average price for a gallon of gas has moved up to $3.53 as of March 22 compared to $3.44 a week ago and $3.27 a month ago. For the same date a year ago, the average national price was $3.44.
Western states are feeling a bigger impact with prices hitting $4.39 in Washington, $4.16 in Oregon, $4.29 in Nevada, and topping off at $4.97 in California.
But while pump prices ascended, so did housing numbers in the past week.
Housing moves ahead
On March 21, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing-home sales jumped by 9.5% in February.
February’s total existing-home sales moved ahead to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.38 million. Single-family home sales grew to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.97 million in February, up 10.3% from 3.6 million in January.
Total housing starts in February climbed 10.7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.521 million from the revised January estimate of 1.374 million.
The latest Monthly Residential Construction Report, released on March 19 by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is also 5.9% above the February 2023 rate of 1.463 million.
February’s single-family starts jumped ahead by 11.6% to a rate of 1.129 million above the revised January figure of 1,012,000. This also represents a massive 35.2% gain from the February 2023 rate of 835,000.
Regained Confidence
Another major industry metric that showed positive gains this past week is home builder sentiment.
Builder confidence hit its highest mark since July 2023, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) on March 18.
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes climbed three points to 51 in March, according to the latest NAHB /Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The latest reading marks the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the index. It is also the first time the sentiment level has surpassed the breakeven point of 50 since last July.