Florida mortgage borrowers keeping track of home prices should pay attention to housing start trends.
A “Housing Start” is defined as the beginning of construction for a privately-owned home. It’s key measure of housing health, as it tracks new housing stock nationwide.
In December 2009, starts fell by nearly 7 percent.
This news is a bit of a downer, but it’s less of a dip than we’ve seen in the past. December’s bad weather conditions is the likely reason behind these lower housing start numbers. It’s difficult to break ground when “Mom Nature” won’t coordinate, and we saw some real cold and inhospitable weather even as far south as here in Florida.
Happier news did present – as for the second straight month, Housing Permits saw a huge uptick.
A housing permit is an certification from local government that authorizes construction. After posting a 7 percent gain in November, permits rose by another 8 percent in December.
It’s a signal that housing is, indeed, in recovery — despite the falling number of actual starts. More permits mean that builders plan to bring more homes on the market for what’s expected to be a very busy spring home-shopping season.
According to the Census Bureau, 82% of homes start construction within 60 days of permit-issuance. Therefore, Housing Starts should start rising soon anyway.
For home buyers, the news couldn’t be better.
With more homes coming online, competition among home sellers should increase, and that will suppress the rise in home prices in Winter Haven and nationwide.
It’s basic economics. When home supplies grow faster than home demand, prices fall.
I hope you found this post useful! As always, if you or anyone you know is in need of a local Florida mortgage broker, I’m your guy. Call me at 863-604-3019 or apply online for your Florida mortgage. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s time to pull the trigger!
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Good news. I came to florida last year with my parents to purchase a new build, however all the sites i went to see were all half built and they couldnt give me a date when they would commence building again.