ConDig (20-Dec-22).  Construction of new homes in the US edged 0.5% lower in November in the wake of rising building material costs, elevated interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The drop took the November reading to 1.43 million starts. Within this overall number, single-family starts decreased 4.1% to an 828,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate. 

Year-to-date, single-family starts are down 9.4%. But the multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 4.9% to an annualized 599,000 pace.

“It’s no surprise that single-family starts are running at their lowest level since May 2020, given that builder sentiment has dropped for 12 consecutive months as builders remain fixated on rising building material costs and supply chain bottlenecks, with electrical transformers in particular being in short supply,” said Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Overall permits, which are a sign of future construction activity, tumbled 11.2% to a 1.34 million unit annualized rate in November. Single-family permits fell 7.1% to a 781,000 unit rate. Multifamily permits crashed 16.4% to an annualized 561,000 pace, the lowest reading for apartment permits since September 2021.

“One important characteristic of the single-family housing market is that there have been more single-family homes that completed construction than have been started over the past four months,” said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz. 

“The most recent data for November shows there were 25,500 more single-family homes completed than started, thus pushing down the number of new homes under construction.”

US housing starts dip in November 

ConDig (20-Dec-22).  Construction of new homes in the US edged 0.5% lower in November in the wake of rising building material costs, elevated interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The drop took the November reading to 1.43 million starts. Within this overall number, single-family starts decreased 4.1% to an 828,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate. 

Year-to-date, single-family starts are down 9.4%. But the multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 4.9% to an annualized 599,000 pace.

“It’s no surprise that single-family starts are running at their lowest level since May 2020, given that builder sentiment has dropped for 12 consecutive months as builders remain fixated on rising building material costs and supply chain bottlenecks, with electrical transformers in particular being in short supply,” said Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Overall permits, which are a sign of future construction activity, tumbled 11.2% to a 1.34 million unit annualized rate in November. Single-family permits fell 7.1% to a 781,000 unit rate. Multifamily permits crashed 16.4% to an annualized 561,000 pace, the lowest reading for apartment permits since September 2021.

“One important characteristic of the single-family housing market is that there have been more single-family homes that completed construction than have been started over the past four months,” said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz. 

“The most recent data for November shows there were 25,500 more single-family homes completed than started, thus pushing down the number of new homes under construction.”