New Building Permits Hit 13-Year High, Suggesting Robust US Economy....(Winning)

theepochtimes ^ | 2/19/2020 | TOM OZIMEK

[caww]

New building permits surged to a near 13-year high, pointing to sustained housing market strength amidst a period of continuing economic expansion in the United States that is the longest in recorded history.

Permits to build new homes in the United States soared 9.2 percent to a rate of 1.551 million units in January, the Commerce Department said on Feb. 19, which is the highest level since March 2007.

In another sign of housing sector strength, builder confidence in the housing market remained buoyant in February, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI), with the last three monthly sentiment readings hitting its highest levels since December 2017.

[abb]

Unexpectedly!

[Skooz]

Good thing Obama signed the stimulus package to make all this possible.

[treetopsandroofs]

FraudCo will feel compelled to issue a response again.

[Grampa Dave]

Unless, you are on a contractor’s customer “A” list, the waiting time for any major job in our area is 4-6 months.

Good luck getting an architect in less time.

It took most of last year to get a new skylight to replace a damaged one and for the roofer to install it.

We need 2 more new skylights, and our roofer said not to count on getting the new ones from a local supplier until earlier summer.

Last summer/early fall we had some large decking and tricky front decking replaced. The contractor is our go to guy, and he has basically said to people we have referred to him, Not this Year!

[Skooz]

I fully expect a “You’re welcome” tweet that will be embraced by his brainwashed minions.

[fireman15]

Prices in our area have been soaring so much that it is getting scary and unsustainable. Our leftist acquaintances moved back up from California. She was bragging that their Realtor did such a great job that they only had to pay $465,000 for a house with an asking price of $435,000. The house was originally 1200 sq. ft. and is on a 3500 sq. ft. lot. The flippers finished the basement, and say it is now 2000 sq ft... Similar houses in that neighborhood were selling for half that price a year ago.

[goodnesswins]

What neighborhood IS that? Curious.

[VanDeKoik]

Lots of construction in west Michigan. Some projects are having a hard time feilding crews. Tower cranes are plentiful!

[central_va]

Some projects are having a hard time feilding crews.

Pay more.

[woodbutcher1963]

The biggest thing keeping a lid on housing starts is the lack of skilled labor.

This is why more and more new houses are being built in factories. Modular homes are the future. Not stick built on site. This is also true for many commercial buildings. For example, there is a company that builds most of the Marriot Courtyard building in the western US. They build the modules in a factory in Boise. Then the components are shipped to the jobsite and assembled there. The crew stays in a local hotel during the assembly stage.

[Will88]

Thirteen year high? It’s just that Obama economy finally kicking in.

[RightGeek]

Around here (North Carolina) most of the building crews (except for some skilled trades) are wetbacks.

[ClearCase_guy]

I totally support the direction we seem to be moving under Trump.

But people do need to think about a few things:
1) Quite a number of Americans are in do-nothing jobs of one sort or another. There are classic jokes like: “How many people work in your office?” “About a third.”. Can this continue?
2) A fair amount of work is done by illegal immigrants. After they leave, the work will remain.

Conclusion: Automation will increase, wages will increase, cost of some products will increase, and some people in do-nothing jobs will end up doing what some of those illegal immigrants used to do (cleaning bathrooms, picking fruit, whatever).

I don’t say any of this is wrong or even unfortunate. But people need awareness that changes are coming. I think it’s best if people on Welfare have to go out and do the work, but I don’t think that is a full and complete solution.

[mewzilla]

Around here the more you pay for a remodel, and tgat ncludes labor costs, the more your assessment and property taxes soar.

Even folks who could pay more are saying it’s not worth it.

So paying more isn’t always a good idea.

[Wuli]

the biggest growth of the housing market is in the South - from Florida to Texas.

[magna carta]

yep same in Houston. Cranes dominate the sky in smaller fashionable enclaves filled with newly arrived Californians and lib city refugees. Real estate boom and record high property taxes.
It’s a drag to see this growth overtake a neighborhood with smaller 2 story brick buildings though plus they are starting road diets for cyclists...it’s insane.

[caww]

.....”the biggest growth of the housing market is in the South - from Florida to Texas”.....

If you can stand being away from your family in the north I’m not surprised the growth in housing is south... plus they build year around and are not weather limited.

[VanDeKoik]

That’s us, just with people from Chicagoland.

[Wuli]

“If you can stand being away from your family in the north I’m not surprised the growth in housing is south... plus they build year around and are not weather limited.”

Building follows population growth and population movement, more than weather, and that would be true even if economic & job conditions in the north were leading in population growth - which they were when building in the northern states did much better - in spite of the weather.