Overall housing starts in September-including single-family units and multi-family units-were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 658,000, 15 percent above the revised August estimate of 572,000 and 10.2 percent above the September 2010 rate of 597,000 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. After falling in August, single-family housing starts in September rose 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 425,000; the revised August figure was 418,000.
"Today's numbers are very welcome evidence that builders are putting some crews back to work on single-family homes in select markets where economic conditions are improving, and on multifamily homes in places where demand for rentals is on the rise," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). However, "Extremely tight lending conditions for both building and buying new homes, along with stubbornly high foreclosures that are putting downward pressure on home prices, continue to weigh down new construction and corresponding job growth."
"The big gain in multifamily housing production for September was in the wake of a below-trend number in August and in keeping with characteristic volatility in that sector," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "However, there's no doubt that demand for apartments is rising as restrictive mortgage lending policies and concerns about future employment push consumers to pursue rental options."
