New home construction in the US slid in February, as harsh snow storms and wavering demand deterred building.
Housing starts fell by 5.9 per cent last month to an annual rate of 575,000, commerce department figures showed on Tuesday. That was in line with economists’ expectations and followed a rise in January.
Homebuilding is hovering around the same rate as last year, with housing starts 0.2 per cent higher than in February 2009. However, the number of building permits authorised, which signal future construction, slipped by 1.6 per cent from January to February.
“While the inventory of new homes on the market has plunged to the lowest level since the early 1970s, distressed inventory continues to be parcelled out into the market,†said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. “That means buyers have plenty of cheap existing homes to choose from.â€
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