Housing starts fail to impress
The pace of total single-family starts are back up over a million. That's the good news from the latest report on residential construction, released by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning.
The rest of the report is dominated by a lot of negative percentages.
Single-family starts for November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1.011 million, that's up 6.4 percent from October, but down 10.2 percent from a year ago. Total starts for November are at a pace of 1.289 million, that's down 1.8 percent from October, and down 14.6 percent from a year ago.
The South showed the most strength: The region was up double-digit percentages compared to October in both total starts (up 10.2 percent) and single family starts (up 18.3 percent).
There was also positivity in the Northeast in terms of permits. Total permits here were up 36.2 percent compared to a year ago.
“While single-family starts were up in November, single-family permits were flat as builders face mixed market conditions that include an election result that promises a focus on regulatory relief, but ongoing elevated mortgage rates,” said Carl Harris, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and custom home builder from Wichita, Kan.
The NAHB is forecasting a slight increase for single-family starts in 2025, "as the financing conditions for builders improve modestly,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The significant decline for apartment construction is forecasted to end, with that market stabilizing during the second half of next year.”
