Housing Starts in U.S. Fall on Decline in Apartment Construction

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

New-home building declined more than projected in October, led by a slump in apartment construction and showing fitful progress in residential real estate.

Residential starts dropped 11 percent to a 1.06 million annualized rate, the slowest since March, from a revised 1.19 million pace the prior month, a Commerce Department report showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 1.16 million. The most construction permits for single-family homes since 2007 indicates ground-breaking will rebound in coming months.

The figures suggest the real-estate market is settling into a more sustainable pace, fueled by persistent job growth and cheap borrowing costs. A labor market that begins to drive faster wage growth would help provide additional impetus for home sales, contributing more to the economy.

“Housing is still really in a slow grind higher, and at the very least it’s stable,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, U.S. rates strategist at TD Securities LLC in New York. “Ongoing strength in permits is really a hint that you are going to get more construction.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-18/u-s-home-starts-fall-more-than-forecast-on-multifamily-drop

[jwirr]

1. When the cost of housing is so high that most people cannot

afford it then there is a limit to the demand. And I am not talking about a limited need - I am talking about a limited people who can afford them.

[forest444]

2. It's worth noting that housing starts, while still weak, are TWICE the level when Dubya left office.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/housing-starts (click the MAX button above the graph for the historic trend)