January 03, 2012
January 3, 2012
The jump in housing starts in November 2011 was given considerable attention by those seeing signs of an uptick. In fact, the jump was driven almost entirely by an uptick in multi-family units. Starts of single family homes were up by just 2.3 percent from their October level and down by 1.5 percent from the November 2010 level. Starts in multi-family units are always erratic and most of the reported increase was just offsetting a sharp drop reported for October. While housing starts are probably on a positive path, it is likely to be a very gradual uptick over the next couple of years.
For more, check out the latest Housing Market Monitor.