Construction of single-family homes and multifamily apartments fell by over 14 percent in August from July, a far more striking plunge than analysts expected. Single family housing starts are running at about half the normal, prebubble pace, and single family building permits, an indicator of future construction, are flat. So how is it that some claim we are building too many houses?
“We’re still building single family homes faster than we can fill them,” argues Trulia’s chief economist Jed Kolko.
Using new numbers released from the U.S. Census, Kolko makes the following points: