Skip to main content

Single-Family Housing Starts Rise 3.7 Percent in May

Jun 16, 2011

Housing Starts Gain 3.5 Percent in May Nationwide housing starts rose 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 560,000 units in May, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Commerce Department. The gain partially offsets a larger decline that was registered in April. "While the upward movement registered in the report is somewhat good news, housing production continues to bounce along the bottom near historic lows, and is only running at a level necessary to replace dilapidated or destroyed units," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "Amidst this fragile marketplace, the nation's policymakers should be aware of a recent poll that confirms the strong value that most American voters continue to place on homeownership and housing choice." Conducted this May on behalf of NAHB by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, D.C., the poll asked 2,000 likely voters about their attitudes on homeownership and housing policy. It found that the vast majority of current home owners are happy with their decision to own a home and believe that owning their own home is important, while nearly three-quarters of those who do not now own a home consider it a goal of theirs to eventually buy one. Additionally, the poll determined that 73 percent of owners and renters believe the federal government should provide tax incentives to promote homeownership. Details on this poll are available at www.nahb.org/voterpoll. "Like consumers, builders remain very concerned about the pace of economic growth and are awaiting signs of improvement before moving forward with new projects," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "The relative bright spot in new home construction is on the multifamily side, where improving demand for rental apartments is spurring gains in that sector. However, access to construction credit remains a limiting factor for new building." Single-family housing starts rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 419,000 units in May—their strongest pace since this January. Multifamily starts rose 2.9 percent to a 141,000-unit rate in May. Regionally, housing production rose 1.5 percent in the South and 18.1 percent in the West, but declined 3.3 percent in the Northeast and 4.1 percent in the Midwest in May. Issuance of building permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 8.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 612,000 units in May. This was the strongest pace since December of 2010. Single-family permits were up 2.5 percent to a 405,000-unit rate, while multifamily permits rose 23.2 percent to 207,000-units—their best pace since October of 2008. Permit issuance posted double-digit gains in the Northeast and West in May, rising 35.6 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively. The South also posted a gain, of 3.5 percent, while the Midwest registered a 1.1 percent decline.
About the author
Published
Jun 16, 2011
Practice Makes Perfect In Public Speaking

The art of being debonair while being terrified

Oct 04, 2024
Wave Internet Leads Good-Bye

Lead generation experts discuss the dire implications of one-to-one consent

Oct 04, 2024
Events Locked And Loaded

Achieve effortless event excellence with a pre-packaged toolkit

Sep 18, 2024
New Kids On The Block

To help young buyers, you need to know what makes them tick

Sep 18, 2024
Creating Buzz

How to promote your event on social media

Sep 18, 2024
Keep Calling, Keep Caring, Keep Closing Sales

Don’t forget your customers or they’ll forget you

Sep 09, 2024