Development Is Back!

Recently released housing market figures all signal a promising trend: the development and construction industries are truly on the up.

The latest US Census Bureau/Department of Housing and Urban Development report for New Residential Construction showed that building permits have surged for both single family and multifamily units in the last few months.  Home building permits reached the highest level in more than 5 years in October (to an annual rate of 1.03 million), while applications for multifamily permits rose by more than 15 in the same month and by no less than 20.1% in September.  Figures for housing starts and completions were postponed until December 18 as a result of the government shutdown, but I expect these to show a similar upward trend.