Housing Starts Rise

Single-family housing starts rose 1.5% in May as builders continue to stay slightly ahead of last year's construction pace.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that single-family starts rose from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million in April to a 1.38 million rate in May. On a year-to-year basis, single-family construction is now up 3.1%, and the National Association of Home Builders expects single-family starts to total 1.37 million this year, up from 1.36 million in 2002. NAHB economist Michael Carliner said he might have to revise the estimate upward based on what the NAHB is hearing from builders and the fact that mortgage rates have dropped to the lowest level since November 1956. The real surprise in the monthly housing report is that multifamily starts jumped 35% to 328,000 units in May, up from 243,000 in April. "Even though demand for living in multifamily units has been weak, investor demand for buying multifamily properties remains pretty strong," Mr. Carliner said.