Real estate market:
The Commerce Department released a report today showing that housing starts surged 9.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units, the highest since April last year. Now, with this latest housing report, residential construction has now grown for two straight quarters.
The bulk of the increase in today’s report seems to be from rising demand for rental apartments, which in turn, is boosting the construction of multifamily homes.
Still, 2011 is still shaping up to be one of the worst years in history for homebuilders.
New homes represent just 20 percent of the overall home market. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Over the past year, apartment permits have surged roughly 63 percent. Single-family permits have increased just 6.6 percent in that time. Housing starts have been mostly moving sideways for about two years and a half years – with slight ups and downs due to the failed home buyer tax credit.
Multi-family starts are increasing in 2011 – although from a very low level.
Even with today’s good real estate market news, one should keep in mind that U.S. home construction and sales are in the midst of one of their worst years ever. Demand for new homes is weak. Record-low mortgage rates and plunging home prices have done little to help.
I am in the Residential Construction Business and I would like to know where they got their info because they sure didn’t get it from around any place here.Also I would like to hear from what Lending Agencies that are lending Money right now for new homes.
What the hell do we need more housing for when we have thousands of foreclosed homes ,, apartment buildings, and retail space sitting empty….it is stupid to use housing starts as an indicator….second, with 1 out of 2 Americans falling below the poverty line,,,,housing starts won’t last long.
Since they are starting to build NEW houses, what are we going to do with the EMPTY houses still on the market?
The National Association of Realtors has apparently been overcounting home sales since 2007. Now that their lies have been discovered, they have spent the pas year figuring out just how badly they did that and how they can create a NEW LIE to conceal their mistake..
Demand for rental units rose. Yeah, we’re on our way back now. The only reason demand for rentals have risen is because people can neither afford or qualify for traditional mortgages either because of tighter lending standards or being underemployed or both. The traditional housing market still stinks and will continue reeking as more people lose their unemployment benefits and find their way to welfare thus resulting in even more foreclosures.
No doubt we still have too much inventory and shadow inventory in certain parts of the country. Population growth and incomes still need congruency in some areas. Hopefully demand will be there in 2012 to get builders building again.