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| U.S. housing industry is still in a deep slump  Housing starts bumped up slightly in April while new building permits dropped to the slowest pace since June 1997, according to figures released by the Commerce Department. Housing starts increased 2.5 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.528 million units, following downward Commerce Department revisions for the two previous months. Starts were down 16.1 percent from a year earlier. Building permits, a more reliable indicator of housing construction activity, dropped 8.9 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.429 million units. Permits were down 28.1 percent from a year earlier.“The pattern of building permits clearly shows that the dramatic downward correction in housing production still is underway, ” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Home buyer demand has been sent into another down leg by the abrupt tightening of mortgage lending standards, and there is an increasingly heavy supply of vacant housing units on the market. Under these conditions, builders are cutting back on new construction and intensifying their efforts to bolster sales and limit cancellations.” write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |