DATA REACT: Housing Starts from FTN Financial – “Unfavorable weather
conditions across a large portion of the country limited housing
activity in February, but don’t look for a big jump in starts in the
spring. A significant inventory overhang and prices below construction
cost in many markets, it is not yet a favorable market for homebuilders.
Multi-family, which includes a lot of commercial construction, is
lagging single-family. That’s partly because it remained strong for a
year after single family starts began to decline because builders
thought the weakness in sales would lead to an increase in demand for
rentals. They were right as far as that went, but did not foresee the
large number of single-family homes about to hit the rental market.”