Builders pulled residential construction permits at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,429,000 units in April. This was an 8.9 percent decline from the seasonally adjusted March rate of 1,569,000 and is down 28.1 percent from the revised April 2006 rate of 1,987,000 according to the monthly report on new residential construction released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The April figure represents the slowest pace for permitting since June, 1997.

Housing starts, however, bumped up a bit to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,528,000, 2.5 percent higher than the revised March figure of 1,491,000. Starts, however, were still 16.1 percent below the 1,821,000 pace of one year ago.

As is only logical with starts up and permitting down, the number of outstanding permits under which construction has not yet started dropped from 214,100 units to 200,900 units from March to April, a decrease of 6.1 percent and 14.7 percent lower than the 235,600 permits outstanding in April, 2006.

The President of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), California-based builder Brian Catalde remarked on the association’s website that “Builders are adjusting to the adverse impacts of tighter lending standards on home sales and cancellations by cutting back on the number of new permits and working down their backlog of unused permits. NAHB’s single-family Housing Market Index has been declining since February and builders are bracing for the challenges ahead.” Read more

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A survey of the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans shows that they are less inclined to buy a second home now than they were when the stock market was cooler and real estate was hotter.

In the spring of 2005, when the real estate market was at its most torrid, 6.3 percent of people with an average net worth of $3.1 million said they intended to buy a second home, according to a report from the American Affluence Research Center.
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While many housing markets across the country are dealing with drops in home prices and sales volume, there are lots of areas that are bucking the trend with healthy gains.

Among them: the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and parts of Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas, says Lawrence Yun, senior economist with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

In Seattle, Coldwell Banker Bain CEO William Riss says single-family homes are in high demand and will appreciate in value by 9 percent to 12 percent this year, following a 12-percent increase in 2006.  Read more

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Washington, D.C. ranks as the top city for African Americans, according to a list compiled by editors of Black Enterprise magazine.

Cities were ranked based on more than 2,000 responses to an interactive survey completed on the publication’s Web site and based on editorial staff evaluations. Criteria in each city includes: median household income of African Americans, percentage of households earning more than $100,000, percentage of businesses owned by African Americans, percentage of college graduates, unemployment rates, home loan rejections, and homeownership rates.

Washington, D.C., attributes are a robust job market and top-notch cultural activities, according to respondents. Also cited was a median home value of $404,900, the highest of all the cities on the top 10 list. Although survey respondents voiced dissatisfaction with local public schools, the survey noted that “the D.C. metro area has the best-educated black population of the cities on the list, boasting the highest percentage of high school and college graduates.”

No. 2-ranked Atlanta was perceived as “offering extensive entrepreneurial opportunities.” A newcomer to the ranking, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., showed a 3.4 percent hike in job growth, which, according to the report, was “the highest employment statistic among the cities ranked.” The report was also conducted in 2001 and 2004. Read more

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Nine out of 10 Americans say affordable housing is a top priority, and a majority believe U.S. housing policy fails to address this issue, according to a survey commissioned by a coalition of public, private, and nonprofit advocacy groups including the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Having “a decent affordable place to live” was ranked as a top personal/family priority by 34 percent and a high priority by 56 percent of those polled. When asked how important providing affordable housing is for their community, 63 percent ranked it as very important, while 27 percent said it was somewhat important.

No Place to Call Home

Released in conjunction with the kickoff of Housing America 2007, a national affordable housing campaign, the survey also brings attention to the housing dilemmas facing a growing number of Americans. According to the coalition, on any given night, 754,000 people are homeless, and minimum wage earners are unable to afford a one-bedroom home anywhere in the country. Read more

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The 2007 industrial real estate market got off to a slow start, according to a report by Colliers International.

Occupied space increased by just 27.3 million square feet, compared with 36.9 million square feet in the fourth quarter of 2006. Fewer buildings were completed during the quarter than were expected, keeping the rise in vacancies to just four basis points.
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