The four major U.S. geographic sub-regions — the Northeast, Midwest, South and West — all had levels of housing starts in December 2007 that they would like to forget. There was not a single month-to-month gain in the group. Comparatively, the South performed best, with a decline versus November of only -3.3%. The story got progressively worse from there, with the West at -19.6%, the Northeast at -25.8% and the Midwest at -30.8%.
Preliminary Annual Results
With the arrival of December numbers, the preliminary annual totals are now available. On a full-year basis, 2007 versus 2006, the West (-27.8%) had the sharpest decline in housing starts, followed by the South (-25.3%), the Midwest (-24.7%) and the Northeast (-14.9%). These figures are set out in the text boxes that appear with the accompanying charts.
As can also be seen from the charts, the monthly pattern of starts has been a downward slide throughout both 2006 and 2007. Therefore, the end-of-year levels were considerably below the averages for the year. This will play a role in calculating the full-year 2008 starts figure versus the full-year 2007 figure. In 2008, the monthly numbers will level off during the year (and, in some cases, even edge upwards), but the annual numbers will be further depressed compared to last year.
The Regional Housing Start Forecasts
Reed Construction Data (RCD) is forecasting a housing-start level of 133,000 units in the Northeast in 2008 versus 142,000 units in 2007, a decline of 6.3%. This will be the smallest decline among the regions. The Midwest will drop to 173,000 units in 2008 (-18.0%) from 211,000 units in 2007; the South to 560,000 (-17.6%) from 680,000; and the West to 234,000 (-27.1%) from 321,000.
In 2009, all of the declines will be reversed and by almost equivalent orders of magnitude: the Northeast +11.3%; Midwest +26.0%; South +19.8%; and West +27.8%. For more on RCD’s current construction forecasts (with tables), please see the story entitled, December Construction Spending Falls Sharply.
03/06/2008 - posted by Eric Halverson
See announcement from FHA below. Jumbo first is now over $700k from $400k. This is for a short time only but may help some borrowers that couldn’t qualify for a jumbo before get into one now. How it will really help those upside down remains to be seen.
HUD SECRETARY: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIANS COULD BENEFIT FROM HIGHER GOVERNMENT-INSURED MORTGAGE LIMITS
Congress must finish the job on FHA modernization bill so more families can keep their homes
Temporary loan limits part of Economic Stimulus Package
San Francisco - Tens of thousands of California families could benefit from affordable government-insured mortgages under a plan to be announced shortly that will temporarily increase home loan limits, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said today. Highlighting the Bush Administration’s plans to help Americans keep their homes, Jackson said the President’s economic growth package, which became law last month with wide bipartisan support, could allow more than 30,000 California families to be eligible over the next several months for safe, affordable mortgages insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
“The plan raises FHA’s loan limits, enabling more families to qualify for a safe, affordable FHA mortgage. This is critical for California, where most families are currently priced out of FHA loans. Because the FHA loan limits didn’t reflect the housing market in California and other high-cost states, a vacuum was created that was filled by exotic subprime loans. We estimate that nearly 33,000 Californians will benefit over the next 18 months,” Jackson said in speech to the Commonwealth Club of California.
This week, FHA will publish temporary loan limits that will range from $271,050 to $729,750. This increase will help provide economic stability to communities in California and give hundreds of thousands of homeowners and homebuyers throughout the country a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative. Loan limits will be set at 125 percent of the median sales price for the area. Currently, FHA loan limits are capped at $362,790.
However, these higher loan limits are temporary and expire at the end of 2008. President Bush and Jackson continue to call on Congress to pass a permanent bipartisan solution to help more families quality for FHA-insured mortgages, which allow low-income, minority and first-time homeowners access to prime-rate financing so they afford to purchase a home. While FHA has seen an increase in business in California, FHA modernization legislation still remains critically necessary. Legislation, which has been pending in Congress for two years, offers flexible downpayment requirements, permanent loan limits higher than the current amount of $362,790, and fairly-priced insurance premiums.
“FHA modernization could help a quarter of a million families this year alone. It passed the House and Senate in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. But a final bill has yet to cross the President’s desk. Congress must act now,” Jackson stressed.
Jackson also explained how the Bush Administration’s aggressive efforts are keeping hundreds of …
Share
Print this Page
RSS Feed
See announcement from FHA below. Jumbo first is now over $700k from $400k. This is for a short time only but may help some borrowers that couldn’t qualify for a jumbo before get into one now. How it will really help those upside down remains to be seen.
HUD SECRETARY: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIANS COULD BENEFIT FROM HIGHER GOVERNMENT-INSURED MORTGAGE LIMITS
Congress must finish the job on FHA modernization bill so more families can keep their homes
Temporary loan limits part of Economic Stimulus Package
San Francisco - Tens of thousands of California families could benefit from affordable government-insured mortgages under a plan to be announced shortly that will temporarily increase home loan limits, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said today. Highlighting the Bush Administration’s plans to help Americans keep their homes, Jackson said the President’s economic growth package, which became law last month with wide bipartisan support, could allow more than 30,000 California families to be eligible over the next several months for safe, affordable mortgages insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
“The plan raises FHA’s loan limits, enabling more families to qualify for a safe, affordable FHA mortgage. This is critical for California, where most families are currently priced out of FHA loans. Because the FHA loan limits didn’t reflect the housing market in California and other high-cost states, a vacuum was created that was filled by exotic subprime loans. We estimate that nearly 33,000 Californians will benefit over the next 18 months,” Jackson said in speech to the Commonwealth Club of California.
This week, FHA will publish temporary loan limits that will range from $271,050 to $729,750. This increase will help provide economic stability to communities in California and give hundreds of thousands of homeowners and homebuyers throughout the country a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative. Loan limits will be set at 125 percent of the median sales price for the area. Currently, FHA loan limits are capped at $362,790.
However, these higher loan limits are temporary and expire at the end of 2008. President Bush and Jackson continue to call on Congress to pass a permanent bipartisan solution to help more families quality for FHA-insured mortgages, which allow low-income, minority and first-time homeowners access to prime-rate financing so they afford to purchase a home. While FHA has seen an increase in business in California, FHA modernization legislation still remains critically necessary. Legislation, which has been pending in Congress for two years, offers flexible downpayment requirements, permanent loan limits higher than the current amount of $362,790, and fairly-priced insurance premiums.
“FHA modernization could help a quarter of a million families this year alone. It passed the House and Senate in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. But a final bill has yet to cross the President’s desk. Congress must act now,” Jackson stressed.
Jackson also explained how the Bush Administration’s aggressive efforts are keeping hundreds of …