Home construction data shows improving market
Jun 19 2012 2:01PM
Data released by the government Tuesday showed continued signs of a steady recovery in the real estate market nationwide.
The pace of single-family home construction jumped for the third straight month in May, rising 3.2 percent, according to the Commerce Department. In addition, the pace of building permits also increased 4 percent, showing construction firms were looking to build more homes in Brentwood and elsewhere.
"The latest data provides evidence of the kind of slow but steady growth that we expect to see in housing production through the end of the year, and shows that housing continues to regain strength regardless of some weakening in other parts of the economy," said National Association of Home Builders chief economist David Crowe.
Overall home start numbers actually showed a decrease of 4.8 percent. However, analysts said most of the decline was in multifamily starts, which tend to be very erratic.
The improvements also mesh with the slowly improving sentiments of the country's homebuilders. An NAHB report earlier this week showed builder confidence at its highest level since May 2007.
