As record-low supply totals persist, there seldom has been a better time for an influx in housing starts and that is what has occurred in recent months, as far as the real estate industry is concerned.
Housing starts hit an 11-year high in May, increasing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million during the month, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That is 5 percent higher than the April rate of 1.286 million and 20.3 percent higher than May 2017.
Single-family home starts in May saw an 18.3 percent bump from the previous month, and multifamily starts jumped 11.3 percent month-to-month and are up 27.4 percent since May a year prior.
The news from the Chamber of Commerce was not all positive for the housing industry, however.
Housing activity dropped in three of the four regions examined by the chamber. Declines were recorded in the Northeast (15 percent), South (0.9 percent) and West (4.1 percent). The Midwest was the outlier by a wide margin, seeing housing starts jump 62.2 percent.
New building permits fell during the month, decreasing 4.6 percent to a rate of 1.301 million units with multifamily residences leading the decline at 8.5 percent. Single-family building permits dropped 2.2 percent. New building permits saw an uptick of 8 percent from the May 2017 rate.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing completions increased by 1.9 percent to 1.291 million units compared to the estimate for the previous month. That is 10.4 percent higher than the May 2017 rate.