New Home Construction Falls 10.2% To Fewest Housing Starts Since '93

[Purveyor]

Source: Detroit Free Press

New construction of homes in the United States fell 10.2% in September to a seasonally adjusted 1.19 million units, according to a government report.

The Commerce Department said the drop in housing starts was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. It was also the lowest level for new home construction since March 1993.

The report also said starts of new single-family homes fell 1.7% to 963,000 last month, while construction of large apartment units plummeted 34.4% to 228,000.

--
“Amid the credit turmoil, builders pulled back even further on starts of new homes,” said John Silvia, chief economist with Wachovia Economics Group, in a note to clients Wednesday. “Starts are now down over 30%, year over year. Residential construction will continue to struggle into 2008.”




Read more: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/BUSINESS07/71017022

[truthisfreedom]

1. Nobody could have predicted that the bush economy would end up like the Valdez...

Leaky and tanking...

[Doctor_J]

2. 1993, 1993. I am trying to think what happened in 1993

Oh, that's right - Il Dunce Padre left office. How long will the Bush family be allowed to ruin this country?

[kineneb]

4. housing did not recover until after 1996

when we bought our house in the SF Bay Area. Real estate people were practically begging people to buy houses. Prices didn't really go up until around 2000...

bought for $119K(!) in 1996, had to sell in 2003 for $309K...

[jaybeat]

3. Good.

We need to fix up what we've got and rebuild neighborhoods that have suffered decades of disinvestment. No more giant new houses that only the wealthy can afford.

Of course, it is bad for workers in construction, but I have no sympathy for home builders--rich a**holes who pay their workers crap to build houses they could never afford to live in!

:rant:

[redqueen]

5. Yeah, I like the idea of far fewer McMansions.

Bright side, right?

[maxsolomon]

6. too late to stop the megahouse that just blocked my view

but not too late for the builder to lose his shirt.

2.3 million my ass.

[tanyev]

7. George Herbert Hoover Walker Bush still working his magic on the economy.

[lanlady]

8. not necessarily bad

if it slows down the blight of McMansions and boosts sales of existing homes.