MUSTANG REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT January, 2017

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... Last week saw plenty of evidence that U.S. residential developers and builders are getting very optimistic. Housing Starts shot up 11.3% in December, reaching a 1.226 million unit annual rate. Yes, this month's bump all came from the multifamily side, but single family starts remain positive, up 3.9% the past year. And get this. Single family building permits are up 10.7% over a year ago, at their highest level since 2007, showing a continuing uptrend. Multifamily building permits are down 15.1% from a year ago, evidence of the shift to single family starts after multifamily construction peaked in 2015.

The optimism reflected in the starts and permits reports got further support from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB builders confidence index hit an impressive 67 in January, just below its December reading, the highest in 11 years. Analysts say both builders and prospective home buyers are encouraged by the pickup in jobs and wage growth and by optimism (at least for now) that more market-friendly policies will be coming out of Washington. December's University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report saw its Current Economic Conditions index at the highest point since 2004. Nice to see things looking up.