By Brenda Richardson | Forbes
Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes remains strong thanks to low mortgage rates and positive job growth. Home building jumped in October by 3.8%, the strongest pace since the beginning of the year, largely because of construction in the West and South.
On Tuesday, Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors and fellow Forbes.com contributor, said the issuance of housing permits booming ahead to their highest level in over a decade is “tremendously good news for the housing sector,” explaining that “permits are just paper, while housing starts are shovels in the ground — and permits generally lead starts.”
Yun added, “At 1.46 million units on an annualized basis, housing permits are nearly to the level needed for the country over the long haul. Since new home construction kicks off the chain reaction of people trading up and trading down by buying new and selling their existing homes, more housing inventory will surely show up in the market next year.”
