The Most Important Number of the Week Is 734,000
A surge in the construction of multifamily dwellings could help temper housing costs and inflation.
Housing costs account for a large part of the headline inflation number.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Of the many economic reports that the U.S. government puts out each month, the one looking at the number of homes on which builders have started construction doesn’t come close to matching the interest of investors, economists and politicians like those that dive into how many jobs employers have added or how fast consumer prices are rising. Maybe that should change.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that so-called residential starts jumped 11.8% in November to 1.68 million at an annualized rate. The increase was the biggest in eight months, which is good given the massive shortage of housing. The National Association of Realtors says it would only take about 2.4 months for the inventory of homes on the market to be depleted given current sales rates, a record low and far below the historical average of 5.6 months. Heading into the last housing crisis in 2008, the figure was around 10 months.