JANUARY HOME BUILDING EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

Source dallasnews.com

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) – Construction of new homes and apartments in January rose 2.8 percent to 591,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, surpassing economists’ expectations of 580,000 units, according to the Commerce Department.


Construction of single-family homes increased 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 484,000 units. Multi-family construction reported a 9.2 percent increase to an annual rate of 107,000 units.

Construction rose 1 percent in the South and 3.2 percent in the Midwest. The majority of last month’s improved construction rates were due to the 10 percent jump in activity in the Northeast and the 8.9 percent increase in the West.

January’s numbers represented a 21.1 percent increase from January 2009 and the fastest building rate since July.

Additionally, December’s construction rates were revised by the Commerce Department from 557,000 units to 575,000 units. However, even with the revision, activity fell 0.7 percent in the last month of 2009. This dip was attributed to severe weather in many parts of the country.

Applications for building permits, considered a good measure of future activity, fell 4.9 percent last month to a rate of 621,000 after two months of significant increases.

2010 TEXAS CONSTRUCTION OUTLOOK UPBEAT

NEW YORK (McGraw-Hill) – The value of Texas construction starts will advance 16 percent to $52.5 billion this year, according to the 2010 Texas Construction Outlook from McGraw-Hill Construction.


Growth is expected for each of Texas' major metropolitan areas: Austin is expected to climb 30 percent, Houston 17 percent, Dallas 16 percent, El Paso 8 percent, and San Antonio 6 percent.

Other highlights from the report:

• Housing starts in Texas are expected to advance 31 percent to $21.8 billion in 2010, with single-family housing growing 31 percent and multifamily housing gaining 34 percent.

• Nonresidential construction starts will slip 1 percent to $17.6 billion, suffering from declines in commercial and industrial starts.

• Federal stimulus funding will assist public works and utilities construction as starts rebound 21 percent to $13.1 billion in 2010.