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Most recent market newsThursday, April 18
HUD/Census Bureau New Residential Construction
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2017.
Building permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,260,000. This is 3.6 percent above the revised February rate of 1,216,000 and is 17.0 percent above the March 2016 rate of 1,077,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 823,000; this is 1.1 percent below the revised February figure of 832,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 401,000 in March.Housing starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,215,000. This is 6.8 percent below the revised February estimate of 1,303,000, but is 9.2 percent above the March 2016 rate of 1,113,000. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 821,000; this is 6.2 percent below the revised February figure of 875,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 385,000.The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Commerce Department report on March residential construction:
“A major housing shortage exists in this country. It is therefore disappointing to witness in March the continued lackluster performance in new home building, which was the second lowest activity over the past six months. Home prices have risen by 41 percent and rents have climbed 17 percent over the past five years at a time when the typical worker wage has grown by only 11 percent. To relieve housing costs, there simply needs to be more homes built.”
Housing completions:
Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,205,000.This is 3.2 percent above the revised February estimate of 1,168,000 and is 13.4 percent above the March 2016 rate of 1,063,000. Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 819,000; this is 7.9 percent above the revised February rate of 759,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 374,000.CoreLogic April 2017 MarketPulse Report
Dr. Frank Nothaft discusses the effect of higher mortgage rates on homeowner mobility Molly Boesel analyzes data from the new Loan Performance Insights report Archana Pradhan discusses underwriting for mortgage applications Home equity rates: Average Home Equity Loan Bank Rates by State | Credio Average Home Equity Loan Bank Rates by State | Credio Average Home Equity Loan Credit Union Rates by State | Credio Mortgage rates: 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Rates for the Past 6 Months | CredioEmail market reports to press@inman.com.
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