New Residential Construction Report: April 2011

Today’s New Residential Construction Report showed a notable declines across the board with with both total and single family permits and starts falling from last month and last year while the new home market remains historically distressed.

Single family housing permits, the most leading of indicators, declined 1.8% on a month-to-month basis to 385K single family units (SAAR) from a lower revised 392K in March, dropping a notable 18.6% below the level seen in April 2010 and an astonishing 78.59% below the peak in September 2005.

Single family housing starts declined 5.1% to 394K units (SAAR), dropping a whopping 30.4% below the level seen in April 2010 and a stunning 78.39% below the peak set in early 2006.

With the substantial headwinds of elevated unemployment, epic levels of foreclosure and delinquency, mounting bankruptcies, contracting consumer credit, and falling real wages, an overhang of inventory and still falling home prices, the environment for “organic” home sales remains weak and likely very fragile.