A bit of good news on the real estate front would be ideal right about now. Alas, today’s update on the housing market is disappointing once again.
Housing starts for August posted another hefty decline, the Census Bureau reports. The 6.2% drop in annualized starts last month vs. July isn’t the biggest decline on record, but it’s still hefty. More troubling is the fact that the declines just keep coming, as our chart below shows. Starts are now at a 17-1/2-year low.
Investors have been looking for a bottom in starts, and the bounce in June gave hope to some, including this editor, who thought maybe, just maybe, the carnage was behind us. But the optimism was premature–again. Today’s numbers reconfirm the bearish tone in housing.