Residential Home sales have been strong since the government relaxed home price restrictions in the spring, lowered mortgage interest rates, and reduced downpayment requirements. Sales have not shown any apparent negative “wealth effect” from this year’s stock market volatility (source: NBS)
Until September new construction starts remained weak as Real Estate developers opted to reduce inventory and deleverage (source: NBS)
September’s rebound in starts has favorable implications for suppliers of building materials such as steel and should be one of the factors supporting a stronger 4Q GDP.
