Housing starts rise in April
Nationwide housing starts rose 5.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 672,000 units in April, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
“While some of the starts activity noted in today’s report reflected homes for which buyers had just signed a contract at the tail-end of the tax credit program, the rest was probably tied to builders replenishing their inventories in preparation for the post-tax credit era,” said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “That said, builders are maintaining a cautious attitude with regard to new building as the economy and housing markets slowly recover.”
“The government’s latest numbers indicate that production of new single-family homes got a substantial boost in April as the tax credit program wrapped up and builders worked to resupply their depleted inventories,” added NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “As our latest surveys have indicated, builders are anticipating that factors such as low mortgage rates, attractive prices and the recovering employment market will replace the tax credit as incentives to buy. Meanwhile, the drop-off in building permits in April indicates that builders are working down the inventory of permits pulled in the previous month and taking care not to get ahead of the market. Builders also continue facing difficulty in obtaining project financing, which will limit the pace of a housing recovery.”Single-family housing starts jumped 10.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000 units in April, the strongest rate since August 2008. Multifamily starts fell 18.6 percent to a 79,000-unit rate.
Permit issuance, which can be an indicator of future building activity, declined 11.5 percent overall to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 606,000 units in April. This reflected a 10.7 percent decline to a 484,000-unit rate on the single-family side and a 14.7 percent decline to a 122,000-unit rate on the multifamily side. Permit issuance was down in three out of four regions in April. The Northeast posted a 7.4 percent decline, the South registered a 14.3 percent decline and the West posted a 16 percent decline. Permit issuance remained unchanged from the previous month in the Midwest.
Three out of four regions posted gains in new housing production in April. Combined single- and multifamily starts rose 23.9 percent in the Northeast, 16.7 percent in the Midwest and 7 percent in the South. The West saw a 13.3 percent decline.
“While some of the starts activity noted in today’s report reflected homes for which buyers had just signed a contract at the tail-end of the tax credit program, the rest was probably tied to builders replenishing their inventories in preparation for the post-tax credit era,” said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “That said, builders are maintaining a cautious attitude with regard to new building as the economy and housing markets slowly recover.”
“The government’s latest numbers indicate that production of new single-family homes got a substantial boost in April as the tax credit program wrapped up and builders worked to resupply their depleted inventories,” added NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “As our latest surveys have indicated, builders are anticipating that factors such as low mortgage rates, attractive prices and the recovering employment market will replace the tax credit as incentives to buy. Meanwhile, the drop-off in building permits in April indicates that builders are working down the inventory of permits pulled in the previous month and taking care not to get ahead of the market. Builders also continue facing difficulty in obtaining project financing, which will limit the pace of a housing recovery.”Single-family housing starts jumped 10.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000 units in April, the strongest rate since August 2008. Multifamily starts fell 18.6 percent to a 79,000-unit rate.
Permit issuance, which can be an indicator of future building activity, declined 11.5 percent overall to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 606,000 units in April. This reflected a 10.7 percent decline to a 484,000-unit rate on the single-family side and a 14.7 percent decline to a 122,000-unit rate on the multifamily side. Permit issuance was down in three out of four regions in April. The Northeast posted a 7.4 percent decline, the South registered a 14.3 percent decline and the West posted a 16 percent decline. Permit issuance remained unchanged from the previous month in the Midwest.
Three out of four regions posted gains in new housing production in April. Combined single- and multifamily starts rose 23.9 percent in the Northeast, 16.7 percent in the Midwest and 7 percent in the South. The West saw a 13.3 percent decline.
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
