Single-family housing starts expected to break 1 million for the first time since 2007
By Kathleen Howley | Housingwire
A housing market stymied by supply shortages will get relief next year from homebuilders, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Single-family housing starts likely will total 1 million in 2020, the highest since 2007, the trade group said in a forecast on Wednesday. That was the year prior to the housing market meltdown that spurred a global financial rout.
Single-family housing starts averaged 1.1 million annually between 1958, when the total was 1.23 million, to 2007, when it was 1.05 million, according to government data. Home construction typically leads the U.S. economy out of recession, but this past recovery was different.