NAHB: Multi-family homes lead 22.2% Feb. rise

WASHINGTON – A 22.2 percent rise in nationwide housing starts in February – the first month-to-month increase in eight months – could mostly be attributed to the “often-volatile” multi-family home business, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
NAHB, citing U.S. Commerce Department statistics released on March 17, said in a statement that the overall gain was increased by an 82.3 percent jump in multi-family home starts. The increase brought multi-family home starts to a pace of 226,000 units-per-year, NAHB said.
For single-family homes, February starts increased 1.1 percent, to an annual rate of 357,000 units.
“While welcome news, this gain only reflects a modest rebound from January (READ MORE), which was the worst month in history for new-home production,” NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said in a news release. “The majority of the gain was due to characteristic volatility on the multi-family side, while single-family housing starts were up just over 1 percent for the month.”
Building permits, an indicator of future market activity, saw a 3 percent rise to an annual rate of 547,000 units. They were up 27.6 percent in the Northeast, higher than in any other region, according to NAHB.
“Builders did pull a larger volume of single-family permits in February, suggesting a glimmer of hope for the prime home-buying season, which is near at hand,” NAHB Chairman Joe Robson said in a statement.
The National Association of Home Builders, a trade group founded in 1942, produces in-depth economic analyses of the home building industry based on private and government data. To learn more, visit www.nahb.org.