Single-Family Home Starts in U.S. Decreased to 26-Year Low

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Single-Family Home Starts in U.S. Decreased to 26-Year Low

By Bob Willis

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) - Housing starts in the U.S. fell more than forecast in September as construction of single-family homes plunged to the lowest level in a quarter century, indicating the real-estate slump intensified even before the recent credit meltdown.

Construction began on 817,000 houses last month, down 6.3 percent from August's 872,000 level that was lower than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, dropped 8.3 percent to 786,000 pace, the lowest level since November 1981.

Builders will find it difficult to lure buyers into the market after stock prices plunged this month and banks made qualifying for a mortgage more difficult. Declines in construction are likely to continue to hurt economic growth well into 2009, extending the housing slump into a fourth year.

``Home construction has all but ground to a halt recently, due to the credit crunch, slumping demand for housing, and the weakening economy,'' Mike Larson, an analyst at Weiss Research inn Jupiter, Florida, said. ``We still have more work to do'' in reducing inventory.

Starts were projected to fall to an 872,000 annual pace from a previously estimated 895,000 million in August, according to the median forecast of 74 economists polled by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from 840,000 to 935,000.

Compared to September 2007, work began on 31 percent fewer homes.

Construction of single-family homes dropped 12 percent to a 544,000 rate, the fewest since February 1982. Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, climbed 7.5 percent from the prior month to an annual rate of 273,000. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEnX2PGylq_4&refer=home

[Vickers]

1. So, Idiot George has officially fucked something up *worse* than Ronnie Raygun?

I see a sainthood in Wee Cowboy's future!

:patriot: