Housing Starts:
871 new single-family homes went under construction in September, and markets acted unfavorably to the news. The WSJ, Bloomberg, CNBC, reporting the figures as “Another weak month,” “Continuing soft stretch,” “Housing starts fall more than expected.” Is homebuilding nearing its end or is this setback just a bump in the road? Single-family home construction has averaged 1,030,000 units the past 40 years; currently, single-family housing starts are 15% below the long-term average. During this time span, the population has grown to 328 million people from 233 million. According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. population is increasing by 3.3 million per year. Based on supply and demand, I am not so sure the end is near, and there still may be considerable upside to come.
