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Utah Construction
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) is a monthly survey that gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low." The survey has been conducted monthly for the last thirty years.
The term "Beehive State" may be the most fitting it has ever been in Utah. We currently have 1.41 million workers within the state, thanks to a strong economy. Our unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 3.9% which means there were, for the month of July, 58,600 unemployed workers who were actively seeking jobs. For Utah, 43,800 jobs were added to the economy in July, which represents a 3.2% increase in growth to the state's economy.
Poll Shows Majority of Americans Still Consider Home Ownership a Good Investment
Posted on August 18th, 2016
The National Home Builders Association recently commissioned a poll in which more than 2800 registered voters were surveyed. The purpose of the poll was to to gauge public sentiment on the value of home ownership and government programs that encourage home ownership and housing production.
Top Clinton Advisor Gary Sperling and Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump each addressed the NAHB Board of Directors at their midyear meeting in Miami last week. Both campaigns laid out their plans concerning the housing industry. While both campaigns recognize that the housing industry creates jobs and stimulates the economy better than almost any other industry out there, they each had different strategies for how to approach this issue.
If you've traveled along the I-215 construction project in West Valley City recently, you may have seen UDOT's newest tool in action. It’s called the Hydro Demolition and uses 36,000 PSI of water to cut through 3-4 inches of cement in just seconds.
We are continually hearing reports that Utah's economy is one of the best in the nation. Construction jobs are plentiful, wages are up, and skilled workers are in high demand. So what's driving Utah's economy?
Almost anywhere you go in Utah, particularly the Lehi, Farmington and St. George areas, you’ll find new commercial developments rising from the ground. That's not to say things aren't bustling in the Salt Lake or Ogden areas, because they are. You almost can't turn a corner in this state without seeing or running into some type of construction somewhere.
We mentioned before that as of August 1, OSHA fines will be dramatically increased for the first time in 25 years. But did you know other federal agencies will be increasing their fines as well? The Inflation Adjustment Act, which was signed into law last November, ensures federal agencies regularly update the monetary levels of civil penalties to keep pace with inflation. This act required agencies to raise their penalties by August 1 of this year, with a maximum increase of 150%.
June was yet another good month for housing starts. Numbers rose 4.8% over the same time last year, pointing to a market for newly-constructed homes that continues to grind forward slowly and steadily. That comes to a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.19 million. Permits, which are a good indicator of things to come, also rose by 1.5% to 1.15 million.
Governor Gary Herbert signed all eight bills proposed by Utah's special session into law last week, and many of them affect construction in some way.