"While new construction picked up between November and December, there are still headwinds in the homebuilding sector," says Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant. "As the new presidential administration takes office, there is still a lot of uncertainty around policies that have a direct impact on the homebuilding sector... Strong economic growth has led to higher inflation and borrowing costs, which has also created challenges for builders."
"Overall, single-family housing starts rose the most last month in the Northeast, where they climbed 14.3% from November and 8.5% from a year earlier.", noting that while growth is present, there remains significant regional disparity across the United States.
Although the South remained the construction juggernaut with 617,000 single-family homes started last month, the most of any region, that figure was flat from November and down 1.8% from a year ago in a sign of slowing momentum.
Permit data shows builder uncertainty: permits, a sign of future construction activity, declined overall in December, driven by reduced permitting for multifamily properties.
#housing-market #single-family-homes #construction-growth #economic-challenges #regional-disparities
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