Housing Starts in U.S. Drop More Than Forecast as Multifamily Units Plunge

[marmar]

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Builders in the U.S. began work on fewer homes than forecast in October as the industry remained mired near the depths reached during the recession.

Housing starts fell to a 519,000 annual rate, the fewest since a record low reached in April 2009 and down 12 percent from a revised 588,000 in September that was less than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Work on multifamily units, which is often volatile, plunged 44 percent, swamping a 1.1 percent drop in single-family homes.

Record-low mortgage rates have failed to boost demand, highlighting the limits of Federal Reserve monetary policy in undoing the damage from the bursting of the housing bubble. Companies like D.R. Horton Inc. are bracing for the worst in early 2011 as unemployment hovers near 10 percent and the lifting of foreclosure moratoriums swells the supply of houses.

“The trend in construction is decidedly still weak amid sluggish demand for new homes and oversupply of existing homes for sale,” Michelle Meyer, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York, said before the report. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aBs2dyga22fo

[earthside]

1. Good news.

And we still have a long way to go to reduce the over-supply of houses.

Now, we need national leadership to impose some tariffs so that housing construction workers can find employment in making products in this country.

[Bragi]

2. Why are there *any* new housing starts?

In a country awash in foreclosures and unsold inventory, and with entire housing subdivisions mostly empty, why is anyone building or buying new homes?

[lib2DaBone]

3. People would buy a house instead of living with in laws if they could...

..except you need a job to get a mortgage. There are no jobs.

[Monique1]

4. There are so many empty buildings and homes

Why do these builders need to tear apart land when they could rebuild vacated buildings that would take care of the slums that they are creating.