by Calculated Risk on 5/09/2017 02:44:00 PM

First a note from housing economist Tom Lawler: Next “Official” Census Long-Term Population Projection Not Due Out Until End of This Year

In several earlier reports I highlighted how the last “official” long-term population projections from the Census Bureau (released in December 2014) were way out of date, and that analysts should not use them for any analysis. Someone asked me when the next Census population forecast report would be released, and someone from the Population Projection Staff of the Census Bureau told me that the next official population projections would probably come out at the end of this year.

And from Tom Lawler.

Below is a table showing selected operating statistics for nine large, publicly-traded home builders for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Preliminary statistics from the Commerce Department estimated that US new single-family home sales (unadjusted) last quarter were up 12.0% from the comparable quarter of 2016.

	Net Orders			Settlements			Average Closing Price (000s)
Qtr. Ended:	3/17	3/16	% Chg	3/17	3/16	% Chg	3/17	3/16	% Chg
D.R. Horton	13,991	12,292	13.8%	10,685	9,262	15.4%	296	295	0.2%
Pulte Group	6,126	5,652	8.4%	4,225	3,945	7.1%	375	353	6.2%
NVR	4,424	4,137	6.9%	3,256	3,006	8.3%	383	369	3.7%
Cal Atlantic	4,304	4,134	4.1%	3,012	2,727	10.5%	444	432	2.8%
Beazer Homes	1,549	1,538	0.7%	1,239	1,150	7.7%	341	328	3.8%
Meritage Homes	2,135	1,987	7.4%	1,581	1,488	6.3%	418	405	3.2%
MDC Holdings	1,696	1,646	3.0%	1,256	907	38.5%	448	435	3.2%
M/I Homes	1,454	1,314	10.7%	1,038	876	18.5%	373	353	5.7%
Total	35,679	32,700	9.1%	26,292	23,361	12.5%	356	346	2.7%