Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected in September to the highest level in 14 years as a desire for more space and record-low mortgage rates continue to support demand.

Contract closings increased 9.4% from the prior month to an annualized 6.54 million, the fastest pace since May 2006, after a downwardly revised 5.98 million in August, according to National Association of Realtors data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 6.3 million rate in September. Single-family home sales outpaced purchases of condominiums.

U.S. new home starts increased in September on a sharp gain in single-family house construction while building permits climbed, indicating residential building had plenty of momentum at the end of the third quarter.

Residential starts increased 1.9% to a 1.42 million annualized rate from a month earlier, according to a government report released Tuesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 1.47 million pace. Applications to build, a proxy for future construction, rose 5.2% to a 1.55 million rate, the fastest since 2007 and topping forecasts.

Construction on new homes surged to the highest level in more than a decade as Canada’s housing market continues to defy expectations of a slowdown.

Housing starts surged to 262,396 units in August on an annualized basis, up 6.9% from an already elevated 245,425 units a month earlier, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday in Ottawa. The highest monthly total since September 2007 was powered by new construction in Toronto and Vancouver, particularly multiple units like condos.

Time to Make Some Stuff

The bounce-back from the pandemicession is still pretty tentative, and Friday morning’s jobs report may give us a better sense of just how tentative. But construction and manufacturing are already looking strong, writes Conor Sen, raising the possibility that this will be the first recovery in a long, long time to be led by the goods-producing sectors. That’s welcome news because it could mean big job gains even as other parts of the economy continue to be held back by Covid-19.

The housing market is booming because people who figure they’ll be working from home a lot need more space. With the supply of available houses on the low side even before the pandemic, that’s good news for those who know how to build them. Meanwhile, things are looking up for U.S. manufacturers due to a combination of pent-up consumer demand and a weak dollar. And though that weak dollar is frustrating for policy makers in the euro zone, argue Mark Gilbert and Marcus Ashworth, they need to resist the urge to start a currency war that could derail the global recovery.

ResiBuilt Homes was supposed to raise $250 million to develop single-family rental communities, but the deal was scuttled in March after the Covid-19 pandemic brought the U.S. economy to a halt.

Now, the Atlanta-based builder is out raising money again, and it’s seeking nearly five times the original amount. ResiBuilt is working with New York investment bank Whelan Advisory to raise $400 million in equity and $800 million in debt to build and manage rental houses as it looks to capitalize on demand for larger living spaces and investor appetite for ways to bet on the suburbs.

Mortgage rates have once again dipped below 3%.

The average for a 30-year fixed loan was 2.99%, just off the record low set two weeks ago, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. Rates had ticked up to 3.01% last week.

New-home sales in the U.S. increased to an almost 13-year high in June, fueled by record-low borrowing costs and adding to evidence that residential real estate is a bright spot for the economy.

Purchases of new single-family houses climbed 13.8% to a 776,000 annualized pace after an upwardly revised May increase of 19.4%, government data showed Friday. The June pace exceeded all economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg survey that had a median estimate of 700,000. The median selling price rose 5.6% from a year earlier to $329,200 as inventory shrank.

U.S. home construction starts rose 17% in June, with builders ramping up production as lockdowns eased.

Residential starts jumped to an annualized rate of 1.19 million, according to a government report released Friday. That matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The month-over-month increase was the biggest since October 2016, while the rate remains 4% below the level in June 2019.

We sat down with Annalise Johns, Housing Lead of Connected Places Catapult to find out a little more about her work in the built environment, health, and regeneration. We discussed the challenges facing those operating in the industry, and what COVID-19 has revealed about how the sector is structured.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what got you interested in design for human health?

My first master’s thesis focused on best practice liveable residential high density. I studied the Vancouver example which was one of the first places to explore the best way to extract developer contributions to maximize amenities for the local community. It’s an excellent example of embedding health into planning and how appropriate levels of density contribute to healthy communities if designed appropriately.

This spring, Hoar Construction has found itself on both sides of the face-covering challenge.
As guidance on virus protections for workers evolved during the spring, contractors in many parts of the U.S. chose or were compelled by state or local rules or unions to go beyond federal guidance and require workers to use a face covering of some kind on the jobsite.

Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record

Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

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Contract signings to purchase previously owned U.S. homes surged in May by the most on record as mortgage rates fell and some states began to reopen from coronavirus lockdowns.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales increased 44.3% to a three-month high of 99.6, after falling in April to the lowest level in records back to 2001. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 19.3% gain in May. Even with the outsize advance, the index is below the pre-pandemic high of 111.4, reached in February.