Housing Trends 2022 And The Way They Affect Demand For Wire and Cable
Housing trends of 2022 are more or less the continuation of the tendency set in 2020. The wire and cable business is related to how these trends manifest among home buyers. Read this blog to know more.
People Are Moving From Cities To The Suburbs At A Faster Rate Than Before
People are increasingly moving to the suburbs because many cannot afford rent or homeownership in urban metro areas. The Covid-19 pandemic also contributed to people moving to the suburbs. The next trend is directly linked to suburbs becoming more popular.
The Demand For Single-Family Housing Grows
Single-family housing has been on the rise for a couple of years now, as Millennials in the United States are buying their first house and opting for single-family housing. Pandemic and the desire for security and isolation have further increased the demand for single-family housing. Younger and older Millennials now represent almost 50 percent of new homebuyers, with older being more common, and most of them are buying homes for the first time. Unfortunately, the demand is higher than the market can currently sustain, leading to shortages.
Mortgage Rates Fall
In 2020, mortgage rates were at a 50-year low, and the government incentives further steadied their fall. For a 30-year mortgage, the rates are now close to 3 percent, and 10- and 15-year mortgages have also dropped significantly compared to previous years. This draws people to buy homes despite growing prices and supply shortages.
Housing Prices Increase, But The Pace Has Stabilized
Housing prices have increased by over 20 percent compared to the previous years, judging by the median price of houses put on the market. The prices will continue to grow, but the pacing will likely stabilize, and the increase will not reach 20 percent in upcoming years, which is closer to 15-17 percent. However, inflation is concerning when it comes to increasing housing prices.
More Than One-Third Of All Housing Is Newly Built
According to Forbes, over 34 percent of all houses on the market are now new construction, which is a response to the growing demand. While one-third is not that much compared to other countries with a dynamic developer market, this is the highest number on record for the United States in recent history and a significant increase from 25 percent last year. The biggest share of these houses is located in the metro areas of Texas, coinciding with the fact that more Americans are moving South because of a more dynamic housing market with more options that exist there compared to the Midwest and Northeast.
What Does Current Housing Trends Mean For Wire and Cable?
With the housing boom, the demand for building wire will grow. Some of the most common types of building wire are copper and aluminum THHN-THWN-2, copper and aluminum XHHW-2, copper XLP USE-2, UF-B, Romex NM-B, copper and aluminum service entrance cables, and aluminum MC.
The growing popularity of single-family housing means growing demand for URD cables and mobile home feeder cables for underground wiring of private households. It also means that Romex will get more popular because it is intended for buildings under three stories.
The fact that many of the houses on the market are new increase the demand for home wiring from scratch. In the future, home wiring will be more integrated with smart home technologies.
