New home builders gain some lost ground- permits, starts up

Changing scene for builders?

News of builder confidence rising is good news for the new home sector, as is new data released today by the U.S. Commerce Department that housing starts nationally rose 14.6% in June, marking the best pace of housing production since the beginning of this year.

Multifamily housing starts skyrocketed 30.4% while single family housing starts rose an impressive 9.4% in June, outpacing recent months. Nationally, starts improved in all regions, jumping 35.1% in the Northeast, 25.3% in the Midwest, 10.6% in the South and 5.4% in the West.

Building permits issued up as well

Building permit issuance is an economic indicator we look at as a preview of future building activity and with a 2.5% rise in permits issued in June, although it is the highest jump since December 2010, the low increase does show a tempered growth rather than a single month of good confidence and a building bubble.

Permits rose in the Midwest by 5.2%, the South rose 5.5% and the West rose 1.4% with the Northeast as the only region to decline, as it dipped 10% in June.

“The latest housing production figures show broad-based gains on both the single-family side and in multifamily apartment construction, where we know that demand has been increasing due to the influx of renters in the market,” said National Association of Home Builders’ Chief Economist David Crowe.

“Going forward, we expect to see a gradual upward trend in new-home production through the end of this year as consumers begin taking advantage of the buyers’ market, though not without some bumps along the way,” Crowe said.

New home construction in your area

What are you seeing in your area? With builder confidence, permits and starts up a bit in single family homes and up considerably in the multi-family sector, what are you seeing in your area? We are hearing a lot of reports of new subdivisions and existing subdivisions firing back up.