Definition of "Housing starts"

Steve Purcell real estate agent

Written by

Steve Purcellelite badge icon

Re/Max Affinity Plus

A measure of actual starts of houses, condominiums, and apartment construction. When an economy is going to take a downturn, the housing sector is the first to decline. The strength in housing starts means not only that the housing industry is healthy, but suggests strength in the overall economy. Housing starts figures are issued monthly by the Department of Commerce. Housing is a key interest-sensitive sector that usually leads the rest of the economy out of the recession. For the housing sector to be sustained, housing start figures need to be backed by building permits. Permits are considered a leading indicator of housing starts.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

In a construction loan, payments made to a contractor as the various construction stages are completed. The contractor uses progress payments to pay the various subcontractors and suppliers ...

Document issued by a public or private institution to perform some activity according to legal requirements. There is usually a license fee. An example is a real estate license. ...

Government official who values real estate property for tax purposes and ascertains the annual property tax assessments that must be collected. ...

Lien on a given property, such as an person's house as a collateral for a loan. ...

Outside of a structure covering a lower quality or cheaper surface to make the structure look better. Examples of veneer exteriors are bricks covering concrete, or a thin surface layer of ...

Has not been registered on the companies books. It belongs to the person holding it. See also bearer bond; bearer instrument. ...

A person who dies without a will and having unknown intentions regarding his estate. In such case, a court administrator is typically appointed to act as an executor in distributing any ...

making land more beautiful to look at by adding improvements such as lawns, trees, and bushes. Increases the value of the property. ...

The economic indicators that trail behind aggregate economic activity. Six lagging indicators issued by the government consisting of unemployment rate, corporate expenditures, labor cost ...

Popular Real Estate Questions