Housing starts, completions up
Good news for first-time home buyers as they will have more opportunities to buy a new house with the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reporting that housing starts were up in August on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis.
Privately-owned housing starts for the month reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000, which is 2.3 percent higher than July's revised estimate, and is 29.1 percent higher than the number reported in August last year.
As far as building permits were concerned, privately-owned housing units that were authorized by permits in August hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 803,000, which is 1 percent less than the revised July number, but 24.5 percent higher than August 2011's estimate of 645,000.
“Builders across the country have been reporting noticeable improvement in the number of serious buyers who are in the market for a new home, and today’s report shows that this is translating to some welcome gains in construction activity,” said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “While there is still plenty of room for improvement, it’s encouraging to see this continuing trend that is spurring much-needed job growth.”
Housing completions also up
Meanwhile, the report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development also found that privately-owned housing completions for the month hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000, 0.7 percent higher than July's estimate, and 11.7 percent higher than August 2011.
Meanwhile, the report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development also found that privately-owned housing completions for the month hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000, 0.7 percent higher than July's estimate, and 11.7 percent higher than August 2011.
“The pace of overall housing production has been edging gradually upward all year as consumers become more confident in their local housing markets, and the latest data are further evidence that the housing recovery is here to stay,” added David Crowe, chief economist for the NAHB. “That said, the pace of this recovery continues to be constrained by various hurdles, including a tough lending environment, inaccurate appraisals and more recently, rising prices on key building materials.”
One way that first-time home buyers can take advantage of this news is to shore up their credit and pursue the house of their dreams. Fortunately for them, 15- and 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averages remain below 4 percent.
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