Single-Family Starts Projected to Break 1 Million for the First Time Since 2007

The last year has been marked by housing shortages, high prices, and lack of labor. But 2020 may just bring the change the market needs, and builders could be the spark. The National Association of Realtors projects that single-family housing starts will break one million. And the good news is that a larger portion of these starts are likely to be entry-level housing, allowing more potential homebuyers into the game. Still, it is to be seen how much of an impact this influx in housing will have on affordability.

A housing market stymied by supply shortages will get relief next year from homebuilders, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Single-family housing starts likely will total 1 million in 2020, the highest since 2007, the trade group said in a forecast on Wednesday. That was the year prior to the housing market meltdown that spurred a global financial rout.

Single-family housing starts averaged 1.1 million annually between 1958, when the total was 1.23 million, to 2007, when it was 1.05 million, according to government data. Home construction typically leads the U.S. economy out of recession, but this past recovery was different.

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