New Construction

Housing starts have seen an increase in the month of March.  The Wall St. Journal reports that the number of starts has risen 1.6%  in March to 626,000, as reported by the Commerce Department last week. 

This growth is a stronger than many experts expected.  February starts also showed an increase after a loss was predicted.  “The bottom line is that there is an upward trend [and] construction will be moving higher provided that new-home sales improve as well,” said Michelle Meyer, economist at Barclays Capital.

The strength in March came from many multifamily status consumers.  There was a slight decrease in starts of single-family homes. Starts of single-family homes fell 0.9% to a 531,000 rate in March, while starts of multifamily units surged 39.7% to 88,000.  The strength was concentrated in the South; all other regions declined in March.  ”This was a modestly positive report. It is nice that construction is improving.” 

The number of housing starts has risen for 8 months straight.  New construction is also showing an increase across the country.  The number of building permits has risen 7.5% to the highest level since August 2009.  Experts are prediciting an upward swing in new construction.