Real Estate Market Showing Signs of Improvement – New Home Construction is Up

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National home constructionMore home builders are committing to projects across the nation, according to a recent Associated Press article.

In May, home builders applied for permits to build single-family homes at the fastest rate in five years.

This is a crucial improvement for the real estate market, including the Washington, DC area housing market, because it will help increase the available inventory of homes for sale, which has fallen short of the demand for such homes in recent months.

National Real Estate Trends

Here’s what every prospective home buyer and seller should know about the recent trends in home construction:

  • The rate of homes started increased 6.8 percent in May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000.
  • The increase in May helped to offset the 14.8 percent decline in home starts in April.
  • During the month of May, construction increased in the single-family homes sector as well as for apartments and condominiums.
  • The seasonally adjusted annual rate for the number of applications for single-family home building permits increased by 1.3 percent, to 622,000.
  • That figure is the highest it’s been since May 2008.
  • However, when you consider all permits, that figure actually dropped by 3.1 percent, or to a seasonally adjusted rate of 974,000. This was mostly because of the more volatile apartment permit sector.
  • When broken down by specific region, housing starts in the South increased by 17.8 percent in May.
  • Housing starts increased by 5.7 percent in the West.
  • Conversely, housing starts in the Midwest and Northeast actually fell, by 13.7 and 9 percent, respectively.
  • New-home construction has increased 28.6 percent since May 2012.

Experts say that housing is the strongest part of the economy in terms of growth.

They also pointed to an increase in consumer prices as evidence that the housing market is mildly benefiting all sectors of the economy.

For instance, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices increased slightly in May.

The Consumer Price Index increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent between April and May. Over the last 12 months, prices have increased 1.4 percent.

Your Washington, DC Area Real Estate Experts

Check back here soon for more valuable insight on the current state of the national housing market and how it is affecting other areas of the economy.

You’ll also discover how such trends are likely to affect you as a home buyer or seller if you live in Maryland, northern Virginia, or Washington, DC.