Growth of Home Construction Still Slow
Posted on Oct 22, 2009 under Construction News |Experts are not predicting a rebound in home construction, at least not for awhile. New building permits for single-family homes fell in the month of September by three per cent, according to the Commerce Dept. Builders are expecting a decrease in demand since the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit expires at the end of November, and are planning accordingly. There is some good news as single-family home starts rose by 3.9% in September. The annual rate for all starts has remained steady since June. This number includes apartment construction as well. Annual rate of home starts went up by 17% since the start of this year. Unfortunately, it has fallen by 29% since September 2008. It is now well below historic norms, which is not good. Some experts say the annual housing start rate would have to more than double to reach the historic average of about 1.5 million units.