By: Dennis Norman
This morning the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for June 2009 showing an increase in new home construction activity.
The report shows the following:
- Building permits issued for single-family residences in June were at an annual rate of 430,000 which is a 5.9% increase over May, but still 28.9% below the rate a year ago.
- The South region had the largest one month increase at 11.1%, followed by the West at 1.2%. The Midwest and Northeast had no change from May.
- Housing starts for single-family residences in June were at an annual rate of 470,000 which is a 14.4% increase over May and is 28.2% below last year.
- The Midwest had the largest one month increase in starts at 26.4%, followed by the Northeast at 24.3%, the West at 15.2% and the South at 8.1%.
- Single-family homes completed in June were at a rate of 538,000 which is an increase of 8.9% from May and 36.1% down from a year ago.
- The West saw the biggest jump in completed homes with an increase of 30.9% from May, the South saw a 8.5% increase, the Midwest a 1.1% increase and the Northeast had a 17.1% decline in completions from May.
The numbers are clearly showing some increased activty in new home construction. Hopefully, until sales increase, any increases in construction will be modest so that we don’t end up increasing the inventory of unsold homes above where it is now. In 10 days the new home sales numbers for May will be released and hopefully will show increases to substantiate the increased construction activity.
By: Dennis Norman
This morning the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for May 2009 showing a slight increase in new home construction activity.
The report shows the following:
- Building permits issued for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 408,000 which is a 7.9% increase over April, but still 35.1% below the rate a year ago.
- The Midwest region had the largest one month increase at 16.1%, followed by the Northeast at 13.5% the west at 7.5% and finally the South at 6.5%.
- Housing starts for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 401,000 which is a 7.5% increase over April but is 40.9% below last year.
- The South had the largest one month increase in starts at 10.6%, followed by the Midwest at 9.4%, the West at 8.6% and the Northeast actually had a decline of 12.5%
- Single-family homes completed in May were at a rate of 491,000 which is a drop of 9.4% from April and 42.4% down from a year ago.
- The Midwest region had the smallest monthly decline in completions with a drop of 2.3% followed by the South with a decline of 8.2%, the Northeast with a decline of 11.1% and the West with a 17% decline.
I think overall the numbers look good showing a very modest amount of increased construction activity. However, some of these statistics have high margins of error (for example housing completions is + or – 7.1% and housing starts are + or – 6.0%) we need to see several months of consistent data for the numbers to really mean anything in terms of the market.
By: Dennis Norman
This morning the US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for May 2009 showing a slight increase in new home construction activity.
The report shows the following:
- Building permits issued for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 408,000 which is a 7.9% increase over April, but still 35.1% below the rate a year ago.
- The Midwest region had the largest one month increase at 16.1%, followed by the Northeast at 13.5% the west at 7.5% and finally the South at 6.5%.
- Housing starts for single-family residences in May were at an annual rate of 401,000 which is a 7.5% increase over April but is 40.9% below last year.
- The South had the largest one month increase in starts at 10.6%, followed by the Midwest at 9.4%, the West at 8.6% and the Northeast actually had a decline of 12.5%
- Single-family homes completed in May were at a rate of 491,000 which is a drop of 9.4% from April and 42.4% down from a year ago.
- The Midwest region had the smallest monthly decline in completions with a drop of 2.3% followed by the South with a decline of 8.2%, the Northeast with a decline of 11.1% and the West with a 17% decline.
I think overall the numbers look good showing a very modest amount of increased construction activity. However, some of these statistics have high margins of error (for example housing completions is + or – 7.1% and housing starts are + or – 6.0%) we need to see several months of consistent data for the numbers to really mean anything in terms of the market.
By: Dennis Norman
Today the U.S. Department of Commerce reported new home starts for March were down 10.8% from February and down 48.4% from a year ago.
This is a sharp contrast to last months numbers which showed a 22% increase over January. However, like I said in my post last month, I don’t think the increase was necessarily good news with regard to the real estate market as inventories are still high and sales are still sluggish…it’s not time to ramp up the building yet.
By: Dennis Norman
Today the U.S. Department of Commerce reported new home starts for March were down 10.8% from February and down 48.4% from a year ago.
This is a sharp contrast to last months numbers which showed a 22% increase over January. However, like I said in my post last month, I don’t think the increase was necessarily good news with regard to the real estate market as inventories are still high and sales are still sluggish…it’s not time to ramp up the building yet.
By: Dennis Norman
Today the US Census Buruea and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a report on December new home starts, permits and completions.
Once again the numbers in all three categories dropped. Building permits for privately-owned housing units at an annual rate of 548,000 for December fell 10.7% from November and was 50.6% Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Today the US Census Buruea and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a report on December new home starts, permits and completions.
Once again the numbers in all three categories dropped. Building permits for privately-owned housing units at an annual rate of 548,000 for December fell 10.7% from November and was 50.6% Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Let me just start by saying “yeah, sure” in reply to my headline. I copied the headline of this post from several websites I found advertising that you could buy government homes for “pennies on the dollar”, at “cheap” prices, “HUGE discounts” and so forth. Many of these sites charge you to reveal to you these government bargains.
I’m not saying there are not good opportunities occasionally to purchase property at a good price from the government, I just don’t think most the deals are at the huge discounts advertised by some sites. In addition, while finding information on government owned property IS easy I don’t think finding the good deals is. Similar to buying REO’s I wrote about a few weeks ago, it will take a lot of work and due diligence on your part to sort through the deals being offered and find Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Today the US Department of Commerce released a report on new residential construction for November 2008. Like so many real estate-related reports we are seeing today it was not pretty. The report, a joint release of the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development says building permits for new homes in November 2008 have decreased almost 50% from the same time last year. The report goes on to state that housing startshave dropped almost 50% in the past year as well. Read more…
