August Housing Starts: Still Bouncing Along the Bottom

Housing starts have been stuck at a low level, with little movement up or down since the April 2010 expiration of the homebuyer tax credit.

August housing starts added one more month’s worth of data to a disappointing pattern. We continue to bounce along the bottom.

Total housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000 per year, with single family starts ran at 417,000.

The litany of impediments to a more robust recovery remains the same: tight credit for both builders and consumers, a glut of foreclosed units depressing prices, faulty appraisals. There’s weak consumer demand due to the fragile state of the economic recovery, particularly the persistently high unemployment rate.

– Courtesy of NAHB