Page 7 - Aruba Today

U.S. NEWS A7
Thursday 19 November 2015

US Financial Front:

October home construction slumps on fewer apartment buildings

Apartment buildings under construction are seen, in Maitland, year were apartment com- ist throughout the country, The housing market con-
Fla., a suburb of Orlando. The Commerce Department reported plexes and condo towers, as well as the cost spikes tains 4.8 months’ supply of
on October U.S. home construction Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. compared to just 27 per- which make financing new homes, significantly lower
cent before the start of the buildings more difficult,” than the six months associ-
(AP Photo/John Raoux) recession in late 2007. The said Philadelphia-based ated with a strong market.
recovery from that eco- developer Carl Dranoff, Tight inventories have fu-
JOSH BOAK and often revised statistics nomic downturn over the chief executive of Dranoff eled rising home values.
AP Economics Writer we see in the industry.” past six years has reshaped Properties. And the growth The median home sales
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home construction has the housing market as in home sales enjoyed this price was $221,900 in Sep-
Apartment construction climbed 10 percent year- those who lost their homes year appears unsustain- tember, a 6.1 percent an-
plunged sharply in Octo- to-date as solid levels of to foreclosures and recent able without significant in- nual increase.
ber, as the pace of home- hiring have improved con- college graduates have come growth. Relatively An index of pending home
building slipped amid a sumer confidence and en- moved into rental prop- low supplies of homes on sales slipped in September
broader cooling of the real couraged more people to erties. The percentage of the markets have pushed and builders are slightly less
estate market. buy houses or move to new Americans who own homes prices upward, straining optimistic about sales go-
Housing starts — both hous- apartment complexes. has fallen to nearly a 48- down payments savings. ing forward. The National
es and apartments— fell The additional construction year low of 63.7 percent. Sales of existing homes Association of Home Build-
last month 11 percent to a marked a turnaround for a This shift has unleashed so jumped 4.7 percent last ers/Wells Fargo builder sen-
seasonally adjusted annual real estate sector that had much multi-family con- month to a seasonally ad- timent index released Tues-
rate of 1.06 million homes, been among the weak- struction that October’s justed annual rate of 5.55 day slipped in November
the Commerce Depart- est pieces of the recovery decrease “could poten- million, the National Asso- to 62, down three points
ment said Wednesday. from the Great Recession. tially be due to pockets of ciation of Realtors said last from a revised reading of
Single-family house con- Yet the market’s upward overbuilding that may ex- month. 65 in October.q
struction declined 2.4 per- trajectory now shows some
cent. Last month’s drop signs of possibly stalling as
mostly stemmed from a rising prices, tight invento-
25.5 percent slide in the vol- ries and the economic un-
atile multi-family category certainty reflected in the
that includes apartments, stock market have side-
a sector had posted a lined many would-be buy-
sharp increase in Septem- ers and renters.
ber. The government also Building permits rose 4.1
revised downward overall percent in October to an
housing starts in September annual rate of 1.15 million
and August. after falling in September.
But many analysts see the The rebound last month
housing market as expand- suggests that apartment
ing despite the recent gyra- construction, which ac-
tions. “The trend here is still counted for the majority of
up nicely from last year,” the increase, could swing
said Stephen Phillips, presi- upward in the coming
dent of Berkshire Hathaway months as more Americans
HomeServices, who added have turned to renting.
that the housing starts data Nearly 33 percent of build-
is “one of the most volatile ings completed so far this