Starts Fall 3%, but NAHB Says Bottom Is Near

With single-family housing starts falling 3% in July, home construction has plummeted 65% since the peak in January 2006, and some building industry economists say a bottom is finally in sight and may be only months away. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that single-family housing starts declined from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 660,000 in June to 641,000 in July -- down 39% from the level recorded a year earlier. Bernard Markstein, senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, noted that the Census Bureau revised the June number upward from 647,000 starts, which sometimes signals a bottom is near. The NAHB forecaster said he believes the bottom in single-family starts is only a few months away. "We are approaching the bottom here, and at least by the end of the year we will have hit bottom," he told MortgageWire. Mr. Markstein also said he expects home sales to "stabilize shortly," due in part to the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit recently passed by Congress.