New Home Construction In Midwest Increases In November as Does Home Size

New home construction starts in the Midwest during November occurred at a seasonally adjusted, annual rate, of 107,000 homes, an increase of 5.9 percent from the month before and a decline of 10.1 percent from November 2013, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.  Year to date through the end of November, there have been 97,800 single family homes started, an increase of 2 percent from this time last year when construction had started on a total of 95,700 new single family homes.

Only half the new homes built are for sale-

One of the things to keep in mind about the new home construction numbers you hear about is not all the homes being built are for sale or adding to the inventory of homes for sale.  Some new homes are built specifically for a client, perhaps on their own property, or are built for rental or other purpose.  During the 3rd quarter of this year construction was begun on 32,000 new single-family homes and only 16,000 (50%) of those were built “for sale”.  During the same period construction was begun on 18,000 new units in multi-family buildings (2 units or more) and less than 1/2% of those were built for sale, with 94.4% of them being built for rental.

New homes in the Midwest getting larger-

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(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 35 ] In spite of the fact that many Baby Boomers are, or are close to becoming, empty nesters and the Millennial’s are waiting later to get married and have kids, new homes being built in the Midwest continue to grow in size.  According to the latest data for new homes built in the Midwest in 2013:

• 8% were 4,000 square foot or larger – this is up from 7% for the prior two years and is the highest level we have seen since tracking the data.
• 19% were 3,000-3,999 square feet, up from 15% the year before and is also the highest level we have seen since tracking the data.
• 23% were 2,400-2,999 square feet, up from 19% the year before and is also the highest level we have seen since tracking the data.
• 25% were 1,800-2,399 square feet, down from 28% the year before and, with the exception of 2011 which was also 25%) is the lowest level we have seen this size at in over 15 years.
• 19% were 1,400-1,799 square feet, down from 21% the year before and, with the exception of 2011 which was also 25%) is the lowest level we have seen this size at in over 15 years.
• 6% were under 1,400 square feet, down from 10% the year before and the lowest level we have seen since tracking the data