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Surprising news on Wednesday as we learn that the latest residential construction data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show that overall housing starts in May dropped a substantial 9.8% compared to the reading in April, and ranks below May 2024 starts by 4.6%. This is the slowest pace in housing starts in the last five years.
The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that residential construction (housing starts) took off in August with high single-digit overall and even double-digit upside gains in the single-family construction segment. Many industry observers attributed the upturn to now more optimistic builders looking to take advantage of improving housing affordability with mortgage rates declining. Many builders believe this will stimulate a big upturn in sales.
The overall housing market has been an economic laggard as the country has seen its economy rebound in the post-pandemic era. The reason for this is primarily due to an unusual combination of high interest rates AND high home prices AND limited available inventory of homes for sale. It is a triple witching that has bedeviled the housing industry in the post-pandemic era.
But is housing about to turn up?
In new data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, residential construction – otherwise known as housing starts – returned to growth again, after registering a concerning double-digit decline in August. However, most analysts believe housing will continue to be challenged by a combination of high prices and high interest rates combining to make housing unaffordable for most buyers.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the latest housing data this week showing that sales of new single-family homes in July hit their lowest level in 6½ years. While unit sales declined, both median and average prices continued to increase, making future home sales even more unaffordable.
In the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we learn that overall housing starts have hit their lowest level since February 2021 as climbing mortgage rates combined with still-high housing prices have made homes unaffordable for many Americans. The same report also notes that building permits have declined as well, suggesting housing will remain in decline for some time to come.
More than a year after its initial introduction, and in the wake of chip manufacturers threatening to scale back their U.S. projects, the United States Senate finally took action on Tuesday to move forward on the bill known as the CHIPS Act. After months of at times heavy discussion/arguing, the stage is set for both the House of Representatives and the Senate to vote on its passage, perhaps as early as next week.
In yet another sign of a slowing economy, April residential housing construction starts declined for the second straight month in a row. At the same time, the Housing Market Index, a key gauge of homebuilder confidence, collapsed in May.
In a new report on residential housing construction by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, overall housing starts in the month of November snapped a three-month slide and took their biggest jump since March of this year. Both the overall construction starts and those for single-family dwellings had their best month in the last eight months. This was a surprise…
