By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
It has been a rather dismal spring and summer for construction, one in which permitting has declined in three out of the last four months. Going more granular, however, a report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) finds that residential permitting, and thus construction, is picking up steam in many states.
The Census Bureau releases two separate reports covering aspects of residential construction each month. The one MND readers are most familiar with is the Residential Construction Report which provides details on the issuing of building permits, housing starts, and unit completions. It is based on the Survey of Construction and is partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The second report focuses primarily on permits and presents data from the Building Permits Survey (BPS). The methodology behind the two surveys differs and so does the level of reporting. The Residential Construction Report presents data on a nationwide basis and for each of the four regions; the results of the BPS are available at state and local levels.
