The previous year was one of the housing market’s best years in recent history in, the home builders were expected to stay almost as busy in the coming year as solid market essentials continue to strengthen demand for new homes and apartments countrywide.
Based on our expectations for mortgage rates, house price performances, household formations and in general economic conditions, we’re very hopeful that demand for new homes and apartments will settle at a slightly lower, but still robust level in the next year, With an insight on the data received in for 2004, it is almost obvious that this has been a record breaking year particularly for the single family market and for homeownership in the United States. Not only will new home sales smash the million unit mark for the first time on record, but it’s now obvious that total production of new single family homes including homes built on owners’ lots will hit its highest level in history in 2004. Moreover, embryonic market rudiments including a modestly higher interest rate structure, stronger job and income growth, and preservation of strong demographic foundations will keep single family market activity at an elevated level next year.
Sales of new single family homes should once again obscure one million units next year. On the production side, starts of single family units should recede by only about 3.5 percent to 1.45 million units. In the multifamily sector, a strong component and solid production of federally supported low income rental housing will continue to provide necessary support to the market while better job growth will help combat high vacancies in market rate rental housing. Remodeling of existing housing chiefly improvements to owner occupied homes will also continue to be a major factor in terms of housing related spending in this economy. (Construction.......
