U.S.: Nationwide Housing Production Edges Up in February

“Demand for new homes and apartments is definitely rising as the spring buying season approaches and more young people move out on their own,” said Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. “Builders are responding to this improved demand by putting more crews back to work and pulling more permits for future construction, though this positive activity is being constrained  by continuing issues with appraisals and credit availability for both builders and buyers, and also by newly arising challenges such as lot shortages and increased costs for labor and materials.”

“Today’s report indicates that, despite some bumps in the road, overall housing production continues on the solid upward trend that we saw throughout 2012,” said  NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Moreover, further gains in permit issuance are a positive sign that home construction will continue to drive economic and job growth in the coming months, albeit at a slower pace than would be possible without certain limiting factors.”

Single-family housing starts eked out a 0.5 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 618,000 units in February, bringing them to their highest level since June of 2008, while multifamily starts rose 1.4 percent to 299,000 units.

Regionally in February, combined single- and multifamily housing production rose strongly in the Northeast and Midwest with gains of 18.4 percent and 37.5 percent, respectively, but fell 5.7 percent and 7.2 percent in the South and West, respectively. 

Housing units authorized by building permits -- a leading indicator of future production  --  in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000. This is 4.6 percent above the revised January rate of 904,000 and is 33.8 percent  above the February 2012 estimate of 707,000. It is the strongest pace since June of 2008. 

Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 600,000; this is 2.7 percent  above the revised January figure of 584,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 316,000 in February.

Housing completions in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 711,000. This is 0.6 percent  below the revised January estimate of 715,000, but is 24.3 percent  above the February 2012 rate of 572,000.

Single-family housing completions in February were at a rate of 574,000; this is 3.6 percent  above the revised January rate of 554,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 130,000.