Housing Starts Remain Strong in June

Housing Starts Remain Strong in June Builders broke ground on new housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.8 million units in June, up 3.7 percent from the previous month, the Commerce Department reported. Nationwide, single-family housing starts rose 5.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.46 million units. Multifamily housing decreased by 2.6 percent over a month ago. "Housing continues to do the heavy lifting in an otherwise sluggish economy," said Kent Conine, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home and apartment builder from Dallas. "Demand is strong and inventory of new homes for sale is at an all time low, only 3.5 months. With building permits up, the outlook for housing for the remainder of the year remains bright." "People are viewing housing as a good place to put their money because of the low interest rates and solid house-price performance," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "This pace of activity should continue throughout the summer even as interest rates begin to inch up." Building permits rose 0.8 percent nationally to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.81 million units in June. Single-family permits registered a 5.3 percent increase for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million units. Regionally, the Northeast posted a 9.9 percent increase in overall housing production and the West and South registered 8.0 percent and 2.3 percent increases, respectively. The Midwest posted the only decline - .08 percent.