U.S. homebuilders broke the 1 million mark in March for the first time
since June 2008. The gain signals continued strength for the housing
recovery at the start of the spring buying season.
The overall pace of homes started rose 7 percent from February to March
to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.04 million, the Commerce
Department said Tuesday.
Apartment construction, which tends to fluctuate sharply from month to
month, led the surge: It jumped nearly 31 percent to an annual rate of
417,000, the fastest pace since January 2006.
By contrast, single-family home building, which makes up nearly
two-thirds of the market, fell 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 619,000.
That was down from February’s pace of 650,000, the fastest since May
2008. The government said February’s pace was a sharp 5.2 percent higher
than it had previously estimated.
Applications for building permits, a gauge of future construction,
declined 3.9 percent to an annual rate of 902,000. It was down from
February’s rate of 939,000, which was also nearly a five-year high.
Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, called the
data “obviously good news.” But he noted that the surge was due to a
jump in volatile apartment construction and said the pace of building
could drop in April.
Steady job growth, near record-low mortgage rates and rising home values
have encouraged more people to buy. In response to higher demand and a
low supply of available homes for sale, builders have stepped up
construction.
March’s pace of homes started was nearly 46 percent higher than in the same month in 2012.
Housing construction fell 5.8 percent in the Northeast but gained in the
rest of the country, led by a 10.9 percent rise in the South. It rose
9.6 percent in the Midwest and 2.7 percent in the West.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo April survey
released Monday showed that builders are concerned that limited land and
rising costs for building materials and labor could slow sales in the
short term. That led to a third straight monthly drop in confidence.
Still, the builders’ outlook for sales over the next six months climbed
to the highest level in more than six years, suggesting that the
obstacles could be temporary.
And construction firms have stepped up hiring in recent months. They
added 18,000 jobs in March and 169,000 since September, according to the
Labor Department.
Though new homes represent only a fraction of the housing market, they
have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an
average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax
revenue, according to statistics from the homebuilders.
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger, AP economics writer. All rights reserved.
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