new homes

Builders broke ground on more new homes last month, giving the weak U.S. housing market a slight boost at the start of the spring buying season.

Home construction rose 7.2 percent in March from February to a seasonally adjusted 549,000 units. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 11.2 percent after hitting a five-decade low in February.

Still, the building pace is far below the 1.2 million units a year that economists consider healthy. And March’s improvement came after construction fell in February to its second-lowest level on records dating back more than a half-century.

Millions of foreclosures have forced home prices down. In some cities, prices are half of what they were before the housing market collapsed in 2006 and 2007. And more foreclosures are expected this year. Tight credit has made mortgage loans tough to get. Many would-be buyers who could qualify for loans are reluctant to shop, fearing that prices will fall even further.

The increase in home construction activity was felt in most regions of the country. It rose 32.3 percent in the Midwest, 27.6 percent in the West and 5.4 percent in the Northeast. Construction fell 3.3 percent in the South.

New homes can spur job growth. Each new home built creates the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Homebuilders are eager to sell their homes this spring, and many are offering incentives and even some price reductions.

So how do you find a good deal on a new home?

While homeowners looking to sell their property might balk at an offer that is too low and pull their home off the market, homebuilders have money invested in land and construction costs and can’t afford to just sit on the homes they build.

With a little research, anyone considering purchasing a new construction home can improve their chances of negotiating a better deal.

When considering an already-built new home, buyers should find out how long ago the home was built and how many residents are living in the development already. The bigger the inventory, the more leverage you’re going to have. The longer it has been on the market, the more leverage.

Another essential step is to check the price at which comparable homes in the development sold, but ignore transactions that are more than 60 days old.

It also is important not to put too much stock in the price of other, similar homes in the development that have yet to sell — an argument one might hear from a builder’s sales representative.

To structure an initial offer on a new construction home, one must weigh the recent comparable home prices, how many homes are left to be sold in the development and how long the home has been unsold.

But definitely make an offer that is below the asking price.

If you’re unsure about how to go about finding out the details we’ve highlighted here to help you get the best deal on a new home, contact us. We’ll be happy to explain other things to help you, and things to watch out for.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Housing starts fell 22.5% in February, well below most analysts’ estimates and to the lowest rate in almost two years, according to Commerce Department data.

In a joint release, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development said starts fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 479,000 units, down from a revised 618,000 for January and 20.8% lower than a year earlier.

The monthly drop was the largest since March 1984. February’s decrease comes on the heels of a 14.6% increase in starts for the first month of 2011.

Analysts polled by Econoday were expecting housing starts to come in at 560,000 with a range of estimates between 540,000 and 590,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch projected starts to come in at 570,000 for February. Single-family starts fell 11.8% in February to 375,000 from a revised 425,000 for January.

Permits for new homes in February declined 8.2% to 517,000 from a revised 563,000 for January and remain 20.5% below the year earlier estimate of 650,000.

This low level of starts is actually good news for housing, and we expect to see starts stay low until more of the excess inventory of existing homes is absorbed.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Housing will see gradual improvements this year, establishing momentum for stronger gains in 2012, said economists at the National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show recently.

“This year’s spring selling season will be better than last year’s,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe, with job growth providing a stronger stimulus in the housing market than last year’s federal homebuyer tax credit.

Crowe forecasted 575,000 single-family home starts in 2011, a 21% climb over an estimated 475,000 units started in 2010, which in turn showed a 7% gain from the 442,000 homes started in 2009.

New-home sales, Crowe projected, “will struggle” but begin following employment gains, reaching 405,000 for the year, up from an estimate of about 320,000 for 2010.

Potential buyers who have resources to buy but want to buy at the bottom are likely to start coming into the market in the springtime,” he said.

Fixed-rate mortgages will move up from their current 4.75% to the 5.75% range by the end of this year, he forecasted. This will push total single-family mortgage originations down about 30% below the 2010 level as refinancings fall sharply with rising mortgage rates.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.