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New Home Construction Hits 13-Year High in December

January 17, 2020

Neal Freyman

Managing Editor

 

Paul Brennan / Public Domain Pictures

 

Anyone else get a three-bed, two-bath Colonial for Christmas? New home construction rose 16.9% annually in December to hit its highest level in 13 years. 

Where homebuilding companies should send thank you notes:

• Jerome Powell: The Fed cut the benchmark interest rate three times last year, dragging down mortgage rates with it. Homebuyers pounced on the lower borrowing costs.
• Temperatures: Those balmy December days got folks in the construction mood.
• The strong labor market: Higher wages and low unemployment are padding wallets and juicing the housing market. 

An index of homebuilder stocks touched its highest since 2005 at the market open Friday. 

Buzz Killington: Few analysts think this historic growth can last, pointing to constraints in labor, land, and materials as speed bumps moving forward. They may have a point. Building permits, considered a leading indicator of the property market, fell 3.9% last month. 

EM         -> { Trump for 2020 }

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