Homebuilders See Improving Buyer Interest as Single-Family Housing Starts Rise 4.4% in September

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Against the backdrop that nationwide housing starts edged up in September, Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) commented today, "Builders are cautiously responding to the small improvement they are seeing in interest among potential home buyers. However, as consumer demand for new homes rises, a major limiting factor for a housing recovery continues to be builders' inability to access credit for new construction."

Nationwide housing starts were up 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in September, due entirely to a 4.4 percent gain in the single-family sector, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today.

"Today's numbers are in line with our latest builder surveys, which indicate that stability is slowly returning to the new-homes market following the declines we saw upon expiration of the home buyer tax credits and the slowing of economic growth this summer," added NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Builders are receiving more inquiries from potential customers and are carefully responding to renewed consumer interest, although their limited access to credit for new housing production is definitely hampering this process."

All of the increase in housing production in September was due to improvement on the single-family side, which posted a 4.4 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 452,000 units - the strongest level since May of this year. Multifamily starts, which tend to exhibit greater volatility on a month-to-month basis, recorded a 9.7 percent decline to a 158,000-unit rate following a big increase in August.

On a regional basis, starts activity was mixed, with two regions posting gains and two posting declines for September. The Northeast and South registered gains of 2.9 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, while the Midwest and West registered declines of 8.2 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Permit issuance, which can be an indicator of future building activity, declined 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000 units in September. This dip was due entirely to a 20.2 percent decline to a 134,000-unit rate on the more volatile multifamily side, while single-family permits remained virtually unchanged, edging up 0.5 percent to a 405,000-unit rate.

Regionally, permits fell across the board in September, with the Northeast posting a 1.5 percent decline, the Midwest a 4.3 percent decline, the South a 4.7 percent decline, and the West a 10.6 percent decline.

 

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