Hits to broker commissions and home construction drove a decline in real estate gross domestic product in the third quarter of the year, new data shows.
Inman Connect New York delivers the perfect blend of outside-the-box thinkers, cutting-edge leaders, and hard-working, successful agents. Join us Jan. 24-26 for crucial content, education, and networking opportunities to help you thrive in today’s changing market. Register here.
Broker commissions and new construction investment tanked in the third quarter of the year, spelling a rough three months for real estate even as the broader economy bounced back from an earlier skid.
Real gross domestic product rose 2.6 percent in the third quarter of 2022, halting the two consecutive periods of decline that occurred in the first half of the year, according to a report Thursday from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
But in the world of real estate, the nosedive from coronavirus-pandemic-era heights continued.
Fixed residential investment declined 26 percent from the second quarter to the third on a seasonally adjusted basis. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of decline in residential investment and the largest quarterly drop since the second quarter of 2020 when the consequences of the pandemic began to ripple through the economy.
In fact, residential investment was the single greatest drag on third-quarter GDP, holding economic growth back by nearly 1.4 percentage points.
“This is consistent with other housing market data on home purchase applications, home sales, and housing starts, which showed significant weakening last quarter as mortgage rates reached multi-decade highs and as economic uncertainty grew,” Joel Kan, deputy chief economist and vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a statement.
Declines were particularly pronounced in single-family construction, which declined 36 percent in the third quarter. Multifamily structures declined by a more modest 5 percent in that…
