Economic Notes: Housing Activity for March
4/16/2009
New home construction slowed again in March as builders nationally struggle to control inventory and conserve cash in the weakest housing market in sixty years. Homebuilders began construction on 10.8% fewer units in March than February; compared to March 2008, starts were down 48.4%.
With foreclosures continuing to rise and housing prices still declining, builders cut back further on their planned activity, drawing 9.0% fewer permits authorizing future construction in March than they had in the prior month. Compared to a year ago, permits were down 45.0%.
State-specific data for March is not yet available but through February New Jersey’s homebuilders slashed activity to record lows, drawing only 1500 permits in the first two months of 2009, about 43% below last year’s level.