The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on the employment situation in March:

“The job market is quite remarkable as more job creations and wage gains are adding to the pent-up demand for housing. The many new job holders are seeking the starter home, but unfortunately, there is a grossly inadequate supply of moderately priced homes.  While most industries are experiencing a new high in total jobs in their sectors, the construction industry is still not back to its prior peak. The latest 16,000 net new construction jobs in March and 246,000 over the past 12 months are a welcoming trend. However, given the housing shortage, more workers are needed for homebuilding. There are around 300,000 job openings in the construction sector that are yet to be filled. Only from increased home construction will the housing market advance in a healthy way of home prices not rising faster than wage gains.”

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