Latest Natural Disasters Could Be the Tipping Point for Housing Markets

According to U.S. Census data, housing starts fell to a four-month low in September, lower than anticipated. Combined with the acute construction labor shortage, falling inventory of available homes (down 6.5 percent in August per the National Assocation of Realtors), real estate economist Nela Richardson of Redfin warns, "the housing market can't take the shock of a natural event .. It can't take any shock because we are so tightly wound with inventory. Any change is a big change, and you'll see that play out across the South."

The National Association of Home Builders is reaching out to the Trump administration, advocating for a guest worker program to ease the residential construction labor shortage, and expedite rebuilding efforts in the natural disaster-affected areas, CNBC reports.

"We need the supply, there is no question, but whether it's the rising cost of labor, lots, raw materials (lumber prices at a 13-year high) and permitting, the builders just can't deliver enough," wrote Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group in response to the census report.

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