As we ring in a New Year, the prospects of a successful 2018 are bright for the housing industry. Although the US housing starts fell short of the housing economist forecasts, it was still the highest housing starts since 2007. It is the eighth consecutive gain in starts since the housing market hit its recessionary bottom in 2009.

For 2018, the average of the five housing economists from various industries within the construction field, forecast housing starts to be at 1,277 million, a 6% increase from 2017. Recently, the NAHB/Well Fargo Builder Confidence index increased by 5 points to 75 as this is the highest rating since July 1999, over 18 years ago.

The industry has not built enough housing through the current recovery to satisfy long-term housing demands as the supply of existing single-family is at a historical low of 3.4 months while the new home supply is just 4.6 months. As the economy continues to rise, interest rates stay moderately low, the stock market continues to climb and with the new tax cuts signed into law, this will all strengthen the housing demand for 2018.

As builders continue to struggle to find labor, more and more consumers will turn to the modular housing industry to fill full their needs which is good for all of us.

As we can see, it will be a promising year in 2018….Happy New Year!