Four metro areas experienced a steady increase in housing activity
Single-family housing authorizations, maintenance, and remodel volumes decreased for the fourth consecutive month, providing insight on whether the housing downturn will spread to the broader economy, according to the BuildFax Housing Health Report.
The report looked into the housing authorizations, maintenance, and remodel spend on a national level in February.
“There have been persistent declines across key housing indicators for four consecutive months. However, we anticipate some economic relief as we head into 2019’s spring homebuying season,” said BuildFax CEO Holly Tachovsky. “Mortgage rates have reached recent lows, leading to increased potential for home sales, which is oftentimes followed by a surge in remodeling activity. The performance of single-family housing authorizations, maintenance, and remodeling activity through this next season will shed light on whether declines in the housing market will spread to the broader economy.”
Single-family housing authorizations went down by 5.75% year over year, while existing house maintenance volume sank by 5.53% year over year and existing housing remodel volume dropped by 10.7% year over year.
The report also analyzed the ten largest metro areas, including Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. Results showed that while the housing markets for all ten metro areas saw steady growth over the past five years, housing activity in just four cities continued to increase in recent months.
