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Just Released: U.S. Housing Market Conditions, 2nd Quarter 2004

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HUD's Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) has
recently released the 2nd quarter 2004 issue of "U.S.
Housing Market Conditions," which presents a compilation
of statistical data and written reports on national
trends in housing production, marketing, finance,
investment, and inventory. In addition, an analysis of
economic and housing market trends is provided for ten
geographical regions, each elucidated by a profile on a
selected housing market. To keep things fresh, every
issue also includes a topical piece about a noteworthy
aspect of housing activity. The new edition features a
discussion of the 2003 American Housing Survey (AHS)
results.

Housing production broke records in the second quarter of
2004. Total housing permits exceeded the annual rate of 2
million housing units, a level of permit activity not
seen in more than 30 years. Builders took out permits for
2,009,000 housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual
rate (SAAR) in the second quarter of 2004, up 4 percent
from last quarter. Construction starts were down 2
percent from last quarter, but overall, the last three
quarters have seen the highest levels of total starts in
20 years. Shipments of manufactured housing were up 1
percent from last quarter after experiencing the lowest
level of shipments in 45 years.
Both new home sales and existing home sales set quarterly
records this quarter with total sales exceeding 8 million
homes. Builders sold 1,287,000 (SAAR) new single-family
homes in the second quarter of 2004. This is up 8 percent
from the first quarter. Realtors sold 6,797,000 (SAAR)
existing homes, which is up 10 percent from last quarter.
The median home price was unchanged from last quarter,
but the median price for an existing home was up 8
percent from the previous quarter.

While housing affordability declined in the second
quarter, it was down from the second best quarterly value
ever reported. The favorable affordability level may
largely explain the increase in the homeownership rate,
which set a new record this quarter with 69.2 percent of
all households owning their own home.

The performance of the multifamily sector was mixed.
Production was higher but starts declined from the
previous quarter. The absorption on new rental units
declined by 2 percentage points, and the rental vacancy
rate declined but was still near the all-time high.

In addition to a special discussion on the 2003 AHS
results, this edition of U.S. Housing Market Conditions
contains local housing market profiles for the following
cities:

o Denver-Boulder, Colorado
o Glens Falls, New York
o Greeley, Colorado
o Houston, Texas
o Lexington, Kentucky
o Los Angeles County, California
o Saint Cloud, Minnesota
o St. George, Utah
o Toledo, Ohio
o West Palm Beach, Florida
o Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Maryland-West Virginia

The current issue of "U.S. Housing Market Conditions" is
available as a free download from HUD USER at
https://www.huduser.gov/periodicals/ushmc.html  or in
printed form for a nominal charge by calling
1-800-245-2691.

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