April 2017 Reports and May Preliminary Data

Following a similar downward trajectory that shipments recorded for the month of April, titles for new single-section homes posted a large -34.5% decline from March’s total. Recall that March’s report had included a large inventory transaction of 64 homes titled on the last day of the month, April saw no such similarly large transaction.

April’s totals for both single and multi-section homes were also down by -9.9% and -12.5% respectively from April of 2016.

The large county markets of Harris, Bexar, and Travis landed in the top five counties for installs again, despite putting up larger month-over-month declines than the Texas market as a whole. Montgomery county which landed in the top spot for the month and Liberty which placed fourth, put up large gains over the previous month.

On DJ’s recent trip to Washington D.C. there were discussions about a national trend in increased cash sales. That trend is certainly occurring in the Lone Star State with new cash sales up 15.9% YTD. There has also been an increase in real property deals on the year, with new land and home deals up 11.8%, but that only accounts for 8.8% of the new home market.

With shipments we saw a large increase after the April decline, but the preliminary titling data is tracking just behind April’s pace and -3.7% behind May 2016 titles. We’ll keep our eye on the market to see which way the final month of title processing moves the needle.