Nationwide housing production experienced a
reprieve in November, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Nationwide housing production experienced
a reprieve in November, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Production
was up 8.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units in
November.
The commerce department and the National
Association of Home Builders said the gains represented a partial bounce-back
from a slow month for housing activity in October, and was largely attributed
to a big increase on the multifamily side.
“The fact that
both starts and permits for new housing production rose last month is a good
sign that we're headed in the right direction, albeit slowly, on the road to a
housing recovery,” said Joe Robson, chairman of the NAHB. “That said, the
November improvement was primarily on the multifamily side, and poor job
markets and other economic factors are still keeping many potential buyers on
the fence for the time being.”
David Crowe, the NAHB’s chief
economist, said that homebuilders are being cautious about starting new homes,
and that the overall production is still down on a three-month average
basis.
”Understandably, it will take some time for the newly
extended and expanded home buyer tax credit to start boosting sales in
individual markets - just as it did the last time such an incentive was
enacted,” he said. “However, the fact that permits increased in November is a
hopeful indication that the desired impact of the tax credit on housing demand
may be forthcoming early in 2010. In the meantime, credit for new housing
production remains extremely difficult to come by, posing significant obstacles
to builders with viable projects.”
Single-family housing
starts made up some of the ground they lost in October, posting a modest 2.1
percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 units in November.
Meanwhile, multifamily starts rebounded from an all-time record low in the
previous month with a 67.3 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
92,000 units in November, according to the NAHB.
