New-Home Construction Rises To Six-Month High
Source: Associated Press | April 19, 2011
Builders broke ground last month on the most new homes in six months, giving the weak U.S. housing market a slight boost at the start of the spring buying season. Home construction rose 7.2 percent in March from February to a seasonally adjusted 549,000 units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 11.2 percent after hitting a five-decade low in February. Single-family homes, which make up roughly 80 percent of home construction, rose 7.7 percent in March. Building permits increased to its highest level since December. That increase could signal a turnaround in the coming months, said Steven A. Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics. New homes typically take six months to build and the number of new permits is higher than the number of homes starting construction. The increase in home construction activity was felt in most regions of the country. New homes can spur job growth. Each new home built creates the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. [Read this article]
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