Archive for the ‘building permits’ Category
January 18th, 2009 | 
Author: The latest figures coming in suggest that U.S. builders started work on the lowest number of houses since records began and building permits which are a sign of future projects most likely dropped to a record lows as well.
According to estimates, housing starts fell 2.7 % last month (December) to an annual rate of 605,000 which would be the lowest level since the Commerce Department started compiling data in 1959.
The actual housing-starts report for December is due out on January 22 but signs are that construction of new homes fell 21% in November to a 625,000 annual rate.
After seeing their shares lose over 76% of their value over the last three years, builders are slashing prices to try and compete with the record number of foreclosed properties coming onto the market and those close to Obama say he will inject around $100 billion in financial-rescue funds in an attempt to ease the mortgage crisis.
Delinquency filings are said to have risen by 41% in December from a year earlier and starts and home values in twenty major U.S. cities declined 18% in October which is the fastest rate on record.
Falling house prices make it harder for owners to sell their properties and buy new houses and the combination of slumping prices and rising foreclosures is dragging down optimism among construction companies and even record-low mortgage rates have failed to spur a turnaround in the market.
The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.96 % which is the first time it’s ever been below 5%.
Not a bright picture and the number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits probably rose to 543,000 last week from 524,000 a week earlier.
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