Housing Starts Rise To Highest Level In Over A Year
According to Commerce Department figures, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 1.631 million in May 2023.
The number of housing starts in the US rose to the highest level since April 2022 last month.
According to Commerce Department figures, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 1.631 million in May 2023.
This is the highest since April last year, which itself achieved the greatest number of housing starts since 2006.
Nationwide’s senior economist Ben Ayers said: “While housing starts data tend to be volatile and this figure may be revised down in coming months, the enormity of the increase suggests that builders are broadly expanding operations this summer.”
Double-digital growth was seen in the South, Midwest and West last month. However, it dropped by 19 per cent in the Northeast.
The biggest demand was for multi-family projects of at least five units, as this increased by 28.1 per cent.
This comes after the National Association of Home Builders revealed its State of the Nation’s Housing report, which showed home prices are still almost 40 per cent higher than pre-pandemic prices., which demonstrates a high demand despite soaring mortgage rates.
Although prices have only risen by one per cent over the last year, compared with a growth of 21 per cent the year before, values are not declining.
