![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/may-2021-new-construction.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\nThe home building industry is making up for lost time, constructing new single-family homes at a pace not seen since 2007.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to the latest <\/span>new residential construction report<\/span><\/a> from the US Census Bureau, the number of single-family homes under construction edged up 1.2 percent in May to 652,000 annualized units, marking a 14-year high and the 12th consecutive monthly increase.<\/span><\/p>\n Single-family housing starts, representing the number of homes that began construction during the month of May, rose 4.2 percent above April\u2019s revised figure to 1.10 million annualized units. While this might seem like a marginal increase, Chief Economist at Fannie Mae Doug Duncan noted that last month\u2019s total was \u201c23.5 percent higher than the 2019 average.\u201d<\/p>\n Across all housing types, including multi-family properties, starts ticked up 3.6 percent month-over-month to 1.57 million annualized units. This was 50.3 percent higher than the May 2020 rate, however, a significant number of construction projects were delayed by the pandemic during that period, skewing the annual comparison.<\/p>\n Building permits for single-family homes fell 1.6 percent on a monthly basis to 1.13 million units. This occurrence wasn\u2019t unique to detached properties, the total number of building permits issued declined 3.0 percent from April to 1.68 million annualized units. The high price of lumber, which peaked on May 10th at $1,711 per thousand board feet, likely contributed to the slowdown.<\/p>\n Many homebuilders have delayed construction until lumber prices drop to more sustainable levels, which has led to a growing backlog of new homes that have been sold but not yet built. In May, for example, there were 142,000 authorized single-family homes in the pre-construction phase, soaring 3.6 percent month-over-month and 52.7 percent compared to one year ago.<\/p>\n Duncan says this backlog of homes and the falling price of lumber, which recently dipped below $1,000 per thousand board feet for the first time since March, could hasten the pace of residential construction. \u201cWe expect some upward movement in single-family starts in the coming months as delayed and put-off projects are initiated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The number of single-family homes that completed construction amounted to 978,000 annualized units, a 2.6 percent drop from the revised April rate. Across all housing types, 1.37 million annualized units went from \u2018under construction\u2019 to \u2018move-in ready.\u2019<\/p>\n Housing demand, driven primarily by Millennials who have reached their prime household formation years, is <\/span>unlikely to subside for several years<\/span><\/a>. As of the fourth quarter of 2020, the US faces a housing shortage of an estimated 3.8 million units, according to Freddie Mac. A <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> published this week by Harvard University\u2019s Joint Center for Housing Studies attributed the under-supplied market to \u201cthe low level of homebuilding since the mid-2000s,\u201d concluding that \u201cto meet today\u2019s strong demand, more existing single-family homes must come on the market.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The home building industry is making up for lost time, constructing new single-family homes at a pace not seen since 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":217726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2021-06-16T21:19:24Z","apple_news_api_id":"065c31c1-26c8-4193-8c17-e11bb93e44ff","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2021-06-16T21:19:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ABlwxwSbIQZOMF-EbuT5E_w","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/u48r14.digitalhub.com\/sections\/09b86915-7d2b-3acd-915b-b215002d01b7"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8647],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n