June housing starts jump | Bedford Corners Real Estate

U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in June as construction activity increased broadly, but a downward revision to the prior month’s data pointed to a housing sector treading water in the second quarter.

Groundbreaking surged 4.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.19 million units, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. May’s starts were revised down to a 1.14 million-unit pace from the previously reported 1.16 million-unit pace.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising to a 1.17 million-unit pace last month.

Housing starts in the second quarter were a touch higher than the average for the first three months of the year, suggesting that residential construction was probably a small boost to gross domestic product in the second quarter.

The housing market is being supported by a strengthening labor market and demand for rental accommodation, but home building is being constrained by labor and land shortages.

A survey of homebuilders published on Monday showed scattered softness in some markets, with builders citing regulatory challenges, as well as shortages of lots and labor.

Groundbreaking on single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, increased 4.4 percent to a 778,000-unit pace in June. Single-family starts in the South, where most home building takes place, gained 0.5 percent.

Single-family starts jumped 31.6 percent in the Northeast and climbed 3.1 percent in West. Groundbreaking on single-family housing projects increased 7.3 percent in the Midwest.

But single-family home construction continues to run ahead of permits, which could limit gains in the near term.

Housing starts for the volatile multi-family segment rose 5.4 percent to a 411,000-unit pace. The multi-family segment of the market continues to be supported by strong demand for rental accommodation as some Americans remain wary of homeownership in the aftermath of the housing market collapse.

 

read more…

 

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/19/june-housing-starts-rise-4-8.html

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.