Resiliency under pressure: can housing weather choppy economic seas?
Economist Neil Dutta, head of economic research at Renaissance Macro Research, says slowing job growth and rising unemployment claims signal broader weakness ahead for the U.S. economy. On the New Home Insights podcast, he explained that while tariffs and inflation remain concerns, a potential Fed rate cut could offer support, especially for the housing sector. Despite challenges like rising inventories and tighter margins, housing is seen as a modest positive overall, buoyed by strong demographics and easing shelter inflation.
According to Dutta, “The big issue right now in housing is that inventories are rising in the places the homebuilders make houses. And that, to me, is a huge problem…Builders are going to be focused more on selling the homes they’ve already made as opposed to breaking ground on new homes.”
