As buyer demand continues to ramp up, more consumers are deciding to build new versus shopping the resale market, as evidenced by the March Housing Starts Summary. Housing starts are up 47 percent from last year and 7 percent versus prior month, according to the U.S. census bureau. Buyers are frustrated with the lack of inventory and looking into new construction and other options. Many metro areas continue to experience a high level of distressed homes for sale in their markets, including short sales. Short sales can take several months to close. Buyers, who can afford to, opt to build in order to customize every 
detail. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun has said that the lack of available inventory is holding the market back. Yun also indicated only new home construction can relieve this demand and that a 50 percent increase in production appears to be needed.
The March Housing Starts Summary recorded that housing starts rose to an annual rate of 1.03 million units. Single family starts declined 4.8 percent to 619,000 from February’s rate of 650,000.
Building permits were down in March’s Housing Starts Summary, 3.9 percent from February with 902,000 permits filed. The news is still favorable for the market in that the number of permits pulled was up 17.3 percent from March of 2012. Home Completions were another bright spot in the March Housing Starts Summary, up 11 percent over February and 36.3 percent over last year with 800,000 units completed. The March Housing Starts Summary reveals the largest increase in new home construction in almost 5 years. Smaller builders continue to struggle with rising material costs and limited financing availability for their projects. Noted estate experts agree that new home starts will maintain a growth trend throughout 2013.
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