Housing Starts, Building Permits Rising Into 2013

Single-family housing starts took a small step back in November.

According to the monthly Housing Starts report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, single-family housing starts tallied 565,000 in November 2012 on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis. This marks a 4 percent decline from October, but is more than 100,000 higher than the count from 12 months ago.

Clearly, the nation's new home construction market is expanding.

On a regional basis, single-family housing starts have been strongest in the Midwest; and Hurricane Sandy appears to have affected the number of starts across the Northeast.

As compared to one year ago:

• Northeast Region : Housing starts down 19% on an annual basis
• Midwest Region : Housing starts up 40% on an annual basis
• South Region : Housing starts up 24% on an annual basis
• West Region : Housing starts up 33% on an annual basis

It's expected that new construction growth will continue into 2013, too. This is because the Department of Commerce report also showed Building Permits mostly unchanged for November at 565,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted annualized basis.

As compared to November 2011, this marks a 25% increase. Permits for multi-family homes are up 17%, too.

There are more building permits being issued today that at any time in the last 4 years.

For home buyers, this may be good news. Rising permits and housing starts suggests a more healthy U.S. economy, but it also means that home supplies may not be as tight throughout the next few months.

Overly-tight home supplies in some U.S. markets have contributed to rapidly rising home values. With more construction and larger home inventories, home prices may rise in 2013 less slowly.

The good news, though, is the mortgage rates in Alpharetta remain near all-time lows and low- and no-downpayment mortgage programs are abundant. For today's home buyer, there are plenty of affordable ways to purchase a home.

Talk with your real estate agent and your loan officer to see which plan works best for you.

New Home Sales Crater In January, Opening The Door For Deals With Builders

Not all housing reports are sunny, it seems.

In its monthly New Home Sales release, the U.S. Department of Commerce showed a 13 percent drop-off in annualized new construction sales between the months of December and January.

It's the biggest one-month drop in New Home Sales since May 2010.

In addition, the supply of new homes for sale spiked higher to 7.9 months last month.  "Home supply" is defined as the amount of time it would take to sell the complete "for sale" inventory at the current pace of sales.

In December, the supply measured just 7.0 months,

Don't fret the news, however. For buyers of new construction in Kennesaw , falling New Home Sales figures can be terrific. Weaker markets put pressure on the nation's home builders to sell their respective homes more quickly. To reach that goal, builders often discount prices and/or offer free upgrades to buyers. 

Some of that action may already be in effect.

Despite falling volume, the New Home Sales report showed that new homes are selling faster than in recent months. The median time required to sell a newly-built home dropped to 7.8 months in January -- a figure well below January 2010's reading of 13.9 months.

It suggests that builders are getting better at locating buyers, and moving property.

Therefore, if you're shopping for a new construction and see one worth buying, get to it. Not only will the home likely sell soon if it's priced right, but an increase in mortgage rates will make the home more expensive to finance.

Every 0.250% increase to rates adds $15 monthly per $100,000 borrowed.