A Commerce Department report, released today and highlighted in an article from Bloomberg, shows that new residential construction in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December – capping the best year since 2007 and signaling that the industry will probably keep expanding this year.
Housing starts increased 4.4 percent to a 1.09 million annual rate, following the prior month’s 1.04 million pace that was higher than previously estimated. The advance was driven by single-family homes, which climbed to an almost seven-year high.
An improving labor market, mortgage costs close to multi-year lows and rising consumer confidence will probably sustain demand for residential real-estate.
“The strength is where you’d like to see it, in single-family housing,” said Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York. “It bodes well for residential real estate. It’s another thing going in the right direction for the economy.”
Applications for single-family homes increased to a seven-year high. Builders began work on 1.01 million new homes in 2014, the most since 2007.
