Schmidt Mortgage Company Blog

Construction on new homes in the U.S. soared in January, as housing starts jumped nearly 10% to an annual rate of 1.33 million. That marks the second highest level since the Great Recession. According to the latest housing starts report from the U.S. Census Bureau, privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,326,000 — 9.7% above the revised December estimate of 1,209,000 and 7.3% above the January 2017 rate of 1,236,000. Building permits, which are an indicator of future housing starts, increased 7.4% in January. This was higher than the revised December rate of 1,300,000

The market for single-family homes designed for people 55 and older reached a new high in the fourth quarter of 2017. Builder confidence in the 55+ market hit a level of 71, up 12 points from the previous quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) released February 1. This is the highest reading since the inception of the index in 2008. Worth noting is the fact that the fourth quarter’s record high was pushed largely by strong demand and not necessarily sales.  Chuck Ellison, chairman of NAHB’s 55+ Housing Industry Council and Vice President-Land