February Had the Most New Construction Homes Finished Since 2008

February 2018 saw the most newly constructed homes finished in 10 years, according to a new residential sales report from the Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

February's share of finished new construction homes had a 13.6 percent year-over-year increase, and a 7.8 percent rise from January 2018. By region, the South had the most of the finished homes, 659,000, followed by the West, 336,000. Realtor.com reports however that February had fewer housing starts, down 7 percent month-over-month, and fewer building permits were issued, 5.7 percent from January.

"The fall in housing starts in February is a movement in the wrong direction," Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors®, said in a statement. "The key to economic prosperity at this juncture of economic expansion is to produce more new homes. That will help with job creation and reduce the swift price appreciation in several markets."

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