Sales of new homes rose in October, but remained at historically weak levels, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Sales activity gained 1.3 percent over September and 8.9 percent compared to October 2010, standing at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 307,000 units. The median sales price of a new home in the month was $212,300.

“While this trend is encouraging, overall sales activity is still well below normal,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bob Nielsen. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

While housing construction is slow now, a new report provides some hope for the struggling construction industry. Building permits in October rose 10.9 percent over September’s figure on a seasonally adjusted basis, and now stand 17.7 percent above the rate achieved in October 2010, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce released today. Much of the gain can be attributed to permits for buildings of at least five units, which gained 29.5 percent over September and 62.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Nationwide housing starts in June reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000, 14.6 percent more than May, according to Department of Commerce data released today. The rate was a 16.7 percent increase over the June 2010 rate, the figures show. The housing permit rate, which is indicative of future construction activity in the housing sector, was 2.5 percent above the May rate and 6.7 percent above the June 2010 rate, with 624,000 permits in June 2011. Meanwhile, housing completions dipped 1.7 percent below the May rate and 39.3 percent below the June 2010 rate, with 535,000 housing starts last month. — Miranda Neubauer

In a housing market crowded with distressed sellers and hesitant lenders, poor housing construction figures are far from surprising. There were just 523,000 construction starts on U.S. homes in April, down 10.6 from last month, and 23.9 percent from April 2010, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today. That marks the largest decline since October 2009. New residential building permits also fell in April, to 551,000 from 574,000 in March and 632,000 last April. Housing completions actually rose from March’s all-time low, but still remained 25.5 percent below the number achieved last April. Only the Midwest showed positive signs in April, as housing starts jumped 15.7 percent month-over-month, but they still sit nearly 20 percent below last April’s total. TRD

U.S. housing completions are on pace to shatter last year’s record low, as completions in March reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 509,000, 14.2 percent less than February and 20.8 percent below March 2010, according to Department of Commerce data released today. The record high of 2.25 million was achieved in March 2006. But the report suggests a brighter future is not far off, as private home construction permits jumped 11.2 percent from February to 594,000, still far below the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 from a year ago. Similarly, housing starts reached 549,000 in March, but were down 13.4 percent from a year ago. Both home permits and housing starts are up significantly from their lows of 522,000 in March 2009 and 477,000 in April 2009, respectively. TRD [more]

U.S. home prices saw a 1.6 percent quarter-over-quarter decline in 2010, according to Clear Capital’s monthly Home Data Index Market Report, released today. But despite the negative quarterly price change, the national index shows that U.S. home prices stopped declining in early January and have posted their first uptick since mid-August 2010. However, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro market posted a .4 percent month-over-month loss in January, and a 4.7 percent year-over-year loss, one of only two of the 15 metro markets that did not post a gain. “This recent national change in price direction is encouraging for the overall housing sector, yet it is still too early to determine whether this current uptick in home prices is a temporary reprieve or the start of a sustained recovery,” said Alex Villacorta, a senior statistician at Clear Capital. “This uptick is the first non-incentivized change in prices we’ve seen since the downturn began, and could provide great opportunity for buyers, sellers and investors alike.” Meanwhile, national sales of new homes in 2010 fell to the lowest levels in 47 years, totaling 321,000, a 14.4 percent drop from the 375,000 homes sold in 2009, according to figures released yesterday by the Department of Commerce, the fifth consecutive year that sales have declined. TRD

Housing starts declined in October, while predictions for future building permits rose, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Privately owned housing starts in October were at a rate of 519,000, 11.7 percent below the September estimate of 588,000, and 1.9 percent below the October 2009 rate of 529,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 436,000, 1.1 percent below the September figure. Building permits in October 2010 were 550,000, up .5 percent from September but down 4.5 percent from October 2009. “While recent months have shown increases in housing activity, today’s
data reminds us that employment and incomes must continue to strengthen
before the housing market is likely to show sustainable growth,” said
Gary Locke, secretary of the commerce department. “The backlog of homes
under construction has been greatly reduced, however, which is a
positive sign for future construction growth.” TRD

Gary Locke

Construction permits for privately owned housing units declined 5.6 percent in September, compared with a small expected increase by private-sector forecasters, according to data released today on new residential construction by the Department of Commerce. Privately owned housing starts increased 0.3 percent in September, following a large gain in August, though analysts were expecting a modest decline. Privately owned housing completions increased 7.3 percent. “A sustained upturn in housing activity requires stronger growth in jobs and income, but home builders have made progress that will help solidify future growth in housing starts,” said Gary Locke, U.S. Commerce Secretary. “The efforts of President Obama and this administration remain tightly focused on ensuring that the jobs market continues to recover and our economy continues to grow.” TRD

[more]

Gary Locke

Permits for new multi-family housing units were at 569,000 in August, a 1.8 percent month-over-month increase, but a 6.7 percent decrease from June 2009. Privately-owned housing starts saw a 10.5 percent month-over-month increase in August, to its highest level since April, well above expectations, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Single-family housing starts in August increased 4.3 percent from July. “We’re headed in the right direction, but we know that the housing market is tied directly to jobs and incomes,” said Gary Locke, commerce secretary. “That’s why this administration will continue to pursue policies, such as the new business investment tax break, that will spur growth and help put more Americans back to work.” TRD

[more]

Construction spending fell nationwide for the third month in a row in July 2010, this time to its lowest level in 10 years, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. July’s $805 billion annual spending rate was 1 percent below June’s $813.1 billion rate and 10.7 percent below the $901.2 billion level recorded in July 2009. The private residential construction sector, which has been battered by gloomy reports since the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit in June, saw a 2.6 percent decline in spending — to an annual rate of $240.3 billion — since June but a 5.5 percent increase over July 2009. Meanwhile, spending in the hotel sector, in which construction has come to a near-standstill, declined by another 1.7 percent month-over-month to $11.6 billion annually, which also represents a more than 53 percent year-over-year drop. And public construction projects aren’t rushing to the construction industry’s rescue: spending on public projects dropped to $298.8 billion yearly in July, down 1.2 percent from June and 7.9 percent from last year. As of the end of July, the 2010 tally of construction spending of any kind was $460 billion. By July 2009, U.S. builders had spent $522 billion for the year on construction projects. TRD

[more]