July’s Builder Intelligence Report Shows Solid Sales as Costs Re-Accelerate

The latest responses from our home builder survey with BTIG suggest a good percentage of builders are continuing to see solid sales, with a fair amount reporting even better-than-expected sales. Still, cost increases in labor, material and land, and growing price dispersion are likely to weigh on margins in the back half of the year.

Highlights from the Latest Builder Intelligence Report 

Sales and traffic. In June, 40 percent of respondents reported year over year increases in sales compared to 39 percent in May, while 16 percent saw a decrease in June, compared to 24 percent in May.

Expectations. Thirty-six percent of builders said sales were better than expected while 25 percent noted worse-than-expected sales. In May, 34 percent of builders reported sales were better than expected, while 27 percent reported them as worse.

Pricing and incentives. Twenty-four percent of respondents raised most or all of their base prices in June from May, compared to 22 percent in May from April — the highest percentage read since Sept. 2018. At the same time, 12 percent cut some, most or all base prices — the highest read since Dec. 2018.

Input costs. Between 40-50 percent of respondents reported an increase in land, labor and material prices from June to May.

HomeSphere/BTIG Builder Intelligence Report

HomeSphere partners with the research firm BTIG to create a monthly report to provide our builders and manufacturers with exclusive and timely insights about the market.

To compile the report, we survey HomeSphere’s 2,600 regional and local home builders about sales, traffic, pricing, labor costs and other key industry metrics.

How to Get The Monthly Report

If you are a builder and would like to participate and receive the monthly report for free, request an invitation below: