Stick-frame or steel, the outlook for housing is dismal
Oct 01, 2008 | 07:04 AM
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Steel framers looking to take a bigger bite out of the residential construction market might have to curb their appetite as the sector shows no sign of rebounding and home builders continue to slash costs.
Analysts aren't expecting the market to turn around anytime soon, and double-digit drops in housing starts are expected next year on top of the collapse in this year's starts.
U.S. housing starts and building permits unexpectedly rose in June, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, but the increase was mainly due to a recent change in New York City's building code, which substantially drove up starts and permits for multifamily dwellings in the Northeast.
Housing starts jumped 9.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.07 million, while permits increased 11.6 percent to a little over 1.09 million, marking the largest increase since January 1990. Economists had forecast that permits would fall to an annual rate of 961,000.....
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