New Home Construction Up Last Month

[Wiregrass Willie]

New Home Construction Up Last Month
Tuesday November 20, 8:51 am ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

Housing Construction Posts Unexpected Rebound in October, Indicating Apartment Surge

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction of new homes and apartments rebounded in October by the largest amount in eight months but the unexpected increase was not viewed as a signal of a housing turnaround.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that housing construction rose by 3 percent in October, the first increase after three months of declines and the biggest advance since a 6 percent rise last February.

However, all of the strength came in the volatile apartment sector, which jumped by 44.4 percent. Construction of single-family homes fell for a seventh straight month, declining by 7.3 percent in October compared to September.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071120/economy.html?.v=10

The only problem is that it's up because all of those people who lost their houses are now in need of an apartment. But leave it to the Republicans to find a silver lining in the working class cloud.

[AndyA]

1. With due diligence, design times, etc., it's most likely that the apartments

had long been planned anyway. And you get to the point, as a developer, where you have to build it anyway because you have so much money in it. Investors and partners want to keep as much of their investments as they can, so even in a market with high vacancies, sometimes new projects come online anyway, if only to rent for below market rates and with lots of vacant units.