Housing Starts Up 4.1% Year-to-Year

Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000, 0.3 percent above the revised August estimate of 608,000 and 4.1 percent above the September 2009 rate of 586,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Stability is slowly returning to the new-homes market following the declines we saw upon expiration of the home buyer tax credits and the slowing of economic growth this summer,” said David Crowe, chief economist, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Washington, D.C. “Builders are receiving more inquiries from potential customers and are carefully responding to renewed consumer interest, although their limited access to credit for new housing production is definitely hampering this process.”

New Privately Owned Housing Units Started

(Thousands of units, seasonally adjusted annual rate)

PeriodTotal1 Unit5 Units or moreNortheastMidwestSouthWestSeptember₁ 610 452 150 72 101 305 132 August₂ 608 433 161 70 110 291 137 July₂ 550 427 103 75 92 275 108 June 539 450 84 60 83 287 109 May 588 459 117 72 109 291 116 April 679 563 104 84 118 367 110 September 586 507 70 67 105 297 117

1-Preliminary; 2-Revised; Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census