Single-family housing starts reached a rate of 516,000 in May, 3.2 percent higher than the April rate of 500,000 and 26.2 percent higher than the rate of 409,000 reached in May 2011, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce released Tuesday. It was the third consecutive month that single-family home starts increased, and May marked the best building pace since December 2011.
Meanwhile, overall privately owned housing starts-including multifamily units and single-family homes-hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000 in May, which is 4.8 percent below the revised April estimate of 744,000 and 28.5 percent above the May 2011 rate, when starts reached 551,000. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said the overall decline is attributed to decreases on the "more volatile multifamily side."
"Today's report is a good sign that builders are cautiously moving to replenish their depleted inventories of single-family homes in response to increasing buyer demand," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "In certain housing markets across the country, the momentum toward recovery is gradually building, though tough credit conditions and inaccurate appraisal values continue to weigh down that progress."
"The latest data provides evidence of the kind of slow but steady growth that we expect to see in housing production through the end of the year, and shows that housing continues to regain strength regardless of some weakening in other parts of the economy," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
