An interesting index came out last week indicating 33 metropolitan areas where housing builders are feeling pretty confident in the United States as far as building new homes. Oddly enough, the area that comes in at number one is in the state with the most foreclosures in the country, California.
The title as top dog goes to the metro area of Vallejo, Calif., where housing starts are up 440% from a year earlier, comparing the three-month periods ending April 2009 and April 2008. Following that area is Longview, Texas, up 263%; Lawrence, KS, 253%; Ann Arbor, MI, 153%; Kokomo, IN, 117%; and Clarksville, Tennessee-Kentucky, at 99%.
Many states show that only one region is doing well as it pertains to housing starts. Considering there are only 33 metropolitan areas in the country feeling love, this list isn’t large either. Those areas are:
• Texarkana, Texas-Arkansas, up 48%
• Lake County-Kenosha, Illinois-Wisconsin, 12%
• Baton Rouge, 8%
• Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, 21%
• Grand Forks, North Dakota-Minnesota, 0.7%
• Atlantic City, 32%
• Syracuse, 54%
• Columbus, 19%
• Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, Mass.-R.I., 20%
• Cumberland, Maryland-West Virginia, 16%
Since there are only 381 metropolitan areas in the United States, this overall figure only comes to 8.7% of the country, which is a scary figure. As communities across the nation are looking for signs that the housing market is ready to rebound in a big way, if they’re looking at housing starts as their main figure then the market is going to be depressed for a much longer period of time.
Of course the overall economy of the country is having a drastic impact on the housing market, and one thing that was startling to see if that more than 99% of the metropolitan areas that are on the housing starts growth list are considered as still being in a recession. In the top five housing start cities, for example, all of those cities are considered as being in a recession. All of the cities that aren’t considered as being in a recession are at risk; something else that doesn’t bode well for the long term.
There were some other numbers that came out of the report that highlight some of the problems associated with the housing market. For instance, only 20 cities out of the 381 metropolitan areas showed an increase in jobs. None of the cities showed an increase in manufacturing. For the first quarter of 2009, 142 metropolitan cities showed an increase in home prices, which comes in around 37%. Of the 50 states, only Alaska has been able to stave off any declaration of being in a recession as of March, but by the end of April it was on the list as well.
So, it seems the only people really ready to benefit from the housing market are those who have stable jobs, have money, and are looking for housing deals. In most areas of the country, there are great houses to be had at low prices. Throw in the $8,000 tax credit, and this could be the year of the bargain house. If enough people take advantage, that could boost the housing market up a little bit.
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In Green Bay Wisconsin our housing starts are still on the decline but a certain niche in the new construction market is going really good for me. We are building 1300 sq ft homes at a really affordable price and they are flying off the shelves. Understanding that people typically finish off the basements eventually to get more square footage. It’s great to see that some areas of the country are picking up.
In Atlanta we’re beginning to see new construction popping up again, and in many cases they are custom homes and not spec homes. There are still quite a few new homes on the market that still have not sold and are tied up in foreclosure, but the supply of new homes is gradually dropping.
My in-laws will be happy. My father inlaw and brother inlaw are both plumbers that mainly do new construction. He said he has been pretty busy for the last year and getting busier. Hopefully we’ll see this spread to the rest of the country and things go back to normal.
Charles@Las Vegas NV Real Estate´s last blog ..Las Vegas Housing Market: Foreclosures Down, Sales Up
Beautiful houses to right price. The buyer can also get $8,000 Federal Tax Credit when they buy for these prices.
Locally we are seeing first time home buyer’s as a big part of the market. We also have a big part of the building industry that caters to them as well. Despite the tax credit, builder are still scaling back here. I think it is good though, they were building at an unsustainable rate just a few years back.
i guess it’s better than nothing… at least there are some positive news on housing starts that people can look forward to, it’s a good sign to have an area worst hit by foreclosures to start building again…
Good! this is really goof news, hope more and more areas will be included in that list soon. I don´t thing that the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit is someting decisive when buying.
Buenos Aires real estate´s last blog ..Punta del Este – Seaside Luxury Property