Housing starts up in January 2011

"Housing starts up 14% in January to 596,000 units. The U.S. home building industry beat market forecasts in January, as starts rose 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 596,000 units — the highest level since September 2010, according to the U.S. Commerce Department."

More good news for the new home construction industry....housing starts up again. We continue to see a recovery, which everyone loves to hear. We are not back to 2007 housing start rates, but at least better than 2009 and 2010.

At Cable-tite, we are proud to be part of the hurricane and high-wind uplift protection used in new homes in the wind zone regions. Thanks for using our cable tie-down system in your engineered designs. Remember...."it's not tight, until it's Cable-tite"

Architects, Engineers, Contractors, and Home Owners: Please call us for advise or help with your wind protection questions.

Multi-generational Housing

In early 2007, housing took a downturn, and still today isn't near the 2006 levels for new home construction. However, the demand for housing did not decrease. That is, new households continue to be established at the same rate. The problem felt nationwide was that the new household didn't have the funds to purchase either an existing home, or a new home. The trend for two households to share the same dwelling is increasing.

But, this is nothing new. In 1900, 57% of homes had two or more households of multi-generational families living together. Quite often there were persons over 65 living with their extended family. With the post-war boom through the end of the century, the percentage decreased to approximately 16%. However, since 2000, there has been a 30% growth in multi-generational family dwellings.

What does all this mean? It means that architects and new home builders are reconsidering the master plan to include space for either returning children called "boomerang" kids or older parents. This often includes two master bedrooms, one level housing, finished space in either the attic or the basement, or even a "suite". Some small families are including a separate living space for rental income. Builders are referring to the added or finished space as "Residence Two".

At Cable-Tite we realize that whatever the housing trends are, there is still a need for high-wind uplift protection. Maybe even more so with more lives to protect. Don't overlook the need for a continuous tie-down from the anchor bolts to the top plate. The Cable-Tite system is the only hurricane tie-down system to offer "continuous" tie-downs, and it exceeds new home construction code requirements.

Housing starts are UP

Let's not overlook any positive news in housing starts. A report just out shows that new home construction starts are on the increase.

"Privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000 — 3.9 percent above the revised October estimate, according to the Commerce Dept.
Single-family housing starts in November were at an annual rate of 465,000, up 6.9 percent from the revised October figure of 435,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 72,000. "


The details of the report show that increases were substantial in the high wind regions. Jacksonville, NC had the best increase of all US cities. More housing means more demand for high wind uplift protection from hurricane winds. And, more demand for Cable-Tite brand cable tie down systems. For those of you following this Blog, make sure you are engineering Cable-Tite into your new home construction.

June housing starts UP

June housing starts are UP!!!!! According to economist Dr. Ken Mayland at ClearView Economics, the bottom for housing starts has been hit, and we are slowly rebounding back towards growth. New single family housing starts increased 3.6% in June, and forecast for 2009 have been increased by 8.7%. The recovery is underway!

It is particularly interesting to note this increase when foreclosures and existing home sales have increased in units and decreased in prices, making many bargains available to the buyer. Yet, new housing starts increased. This tells me that once the abundance of inventory is depleted, new housing is set to boom.

Don't forget Cable-Tite when you plan your new house. It's the most robust hurricane and high-wind tie-down system available. It exceeds construction codes by offering a continuous anchor from the foundation to the top plate for uplift protection.

Dow and Home Sales Up

Good News for a change. On Monday Mar 23, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average shot up nearly 500 points. Part of the reason was the news released by the National Board of Realtors that home sales had increased. There currently is an over inventory of existing homes. When this inventory decreases, new housing starts will begin to move forward.

For those of us in new housing construction, this is a glimmer of hope that perhaps the bottom has been reached and there will be upward movement on demand for new housing. Of course some areas will recover faster than others, but the general feeling is that there is optimism for the last half of 2009, and more in 2010.

In a day of continual bad news.....let's celebrate this good news story.