Census Bureau
By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 05/23/2012
New homes sales rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Wednesday (May 23). Sales for March were revised upward from 328,000 to 332,000. Sales for March were revised upward from 328,000 to 332,000. Economists had expected the report to show a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 335,000 for new home sales in April. New home sales in April were up 8.5 percent from April 2011, the seventh straight month of year-over-year increases.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 05/16/2012
Housing permits dipped in April for the first time in four months, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Wednesday but housing starts improved. Both indicators remained far above year-earlier levels. The month-over-month increase in starts in April appeared still larger because of a downward revision to March's report. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected permits to drop month-over-month and starts to increase.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 04/30/2012
The nation’s homeownership rate (seasonally adjusted) dropped to 65.4 percent in the first quarter, its lowest level since the first quarter of 1997, the Census Bureau reported Monday. The homeownership rate fell in all four census regions in the first quarter – the steepest drop in the Northeast, 1.2 percentage points to 62.5 percent. The homeownership rate fell 0.8 percentage points in the South to 67.5 percent; 0.5 percentage points in the Midwest to 69.5 percent, and 0.2 percentage points in the West to 59.9 percent. At the same, the homeowner vacancy rate fell to 2.2 percent nationwide, down from 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and the rental vacancy rate dropped to 8.8 percent from 9.7 percent one year earlier.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 04/24/2012
New homes sales fell 7.1 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 328,000, the steepest percentage decline since February 2011, the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Tuesday. Sales for January were revised upward from 313,000 to 353,000. Economists had expected the report to show a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 318,000 new home sales in March. New home sales in March were up 7.5 percent from March 2011.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 04/17/2012
Housing permits surged another 4.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 747,000, the highest level since September 2008, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Tuesday. At the same time though, housing starts fell for the third time in the last four months to the lowest level since last October.
The increase in permits was driven largely by multi-family activity; single family permits fell for the first time since last September.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 03/23/2012
New homes sales fell 1.6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000, the second straight monthly decline, the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Friday. Sales for January were revised downward from 321,000 to 318,000.
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By Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist | 03/20/2012
Housing starts fell 1.1 percent in February to 698,000, compared with market expectations for a smaller decline, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Tuesday. Single family starts plunged 9.9 percent to 457,000, the steepest decline in a year.
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By Carrie Bay | 01/31/2012
The percentage of single-family homes sitting empty fell to 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
That's down from 2.7 percent at the beginning of last year, and the lowest homeowner vacancy rate since early 2006. Analysts say it's a sign that excess inventory - at least the visible inventory - is slowly but surely beginning to clear.
The Census Bureau also reported that the nation's homeownership rate dropped to 66.0 percent - its lowest level in nearly 14 years.
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By Carrie Bay | 01/10/2012
The number of housing markets showing measurable improvement nearly doubled in January, with the addition of 40 new metros to the Improving Markets Index put out by First American and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The index tracks housing markets that are showing signs of improving economic health based on three independent datasets - employment growth from the Labor Department, home price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permits from the Census Bureau.
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By Krista Franks | 11/02/2011
After falling to a 13-year low during the second quarter, the U.S. homeownership rate posted a highly unexpected rise in the third quarter. Data released by the Census Bureau Wednesday puts the nation's homeownership rate at 66.3 percent. That's up from 65.9 percent at mid-year. With foreclosures forcing homeowners out of their homes and buyers waiting on the sidelines as home values declined, the rate has been heading south for quite some time. In fact, the third-quarter rise is the first in two years.
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