Building Permits & Housing Starts Surge In April

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In the south, permits grew 18.2%

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 17, 2014

Both homeowners and lenders such as Peoples Home Equity were exuberant to see building permits and housing starts surge for the month of April. The data is noteworthy given that it confirms the housing market remains on the path to recovery.

As reported by the U.S. Census Bureau on Friday, May 16th, housing starts and building permits were announced to have jumped a high amount in April. Housing starts soared to 1,072,000, 13.2% higher after they already rose 2% in March. On a year over year basis, housing starts are up 26.4%. This is the highest level housing starts have been in 6 years. Meanwhile, building permits, which fell -1.1% in March, rose 8% to 1,080,000 in April. On a regional basis permits actually declined -17.6% in the northeast, while housing starts rose 28.7%. In the Midwest, where Peoples Home Equity centers much of its lending business, permits increased 1.2% while housing starts rose 42.1%. In the south, permits grew 18.2% while housing starts rose only slightly at 1.5%. In the west, permits rose 7.7% while starts grew by 11.1% for April.

Housing starts used to be over 2million in 2005 and as low as 600,000 in 2009, thus April’s announcement of 1,072,000 confirms the market is rebounding.

The implications of this data are positive since the housing market is currently dealing with an issue of lower inventory which is also propping up home prices making them less available and affordable to first-time homebuyers. Given the high increase in housing starts and building permits, the market will soon see a large influx of supply. The boost in supply will attract homeowners to sell their homes and move to a new piece of real estate giving first-time homebuyers more inventory options to purchase a property.

Peoples Home Equity believes first-time homebuyers are being given a unique opportunity right now to purchase a home this spring while mortgage rates have recently declined. One may not know for how long this environment of relatively lower rates may last, thus the lender encourages first-time homebuyers to at least apply for a home loan now.

If interested in securing a competitive, lower rate mortgage, consider speaking with a Peoples Home Equity loan officer today details at: 262-563-4026

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