US housing starts rose 1.5 million February, an 11.2% increase from the revised January data. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Dani Romero breaks down the report and what it reveals about the housing market.
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New home construction surged more than anticipated in February, up more than 11% from January. Senior reporter Danny Romero joins us now on set with more here. So, Danny, what do we know?
Brad, builders broke ground on more housing projects in February. Housing starts rose more than 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.5 million units. And that beat economist expectations who were expecting an annual pace of 1.38 million units. The rebound in housing starts really was led by single-family construction. And what's really interesting from all of this is that this data comes out when home builders are really feeling not that confident about the housing market. And that they're dealing with President Trump's tariff policies, the ongoing challenges of high housing costs. Remember, Trump last week imposed a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum products, a move, a policy move that will likely push housing costs even higher. According to the National Association of Home Builders, they say they revealed in their March survey that they're estimating that tariffs could increase the cost of a home by $9,200. And economists are expecting that home builder confidence will likely fall, and it then also, um, will put pressure on new construction during the second half of this year.
And Danny, Redfin data out this morning as well that we just saw says that home prices in February actually grew at their slowest pace since July on a month-over-month basis. What can you tell us there?
There's good news for both buyers and sellers as we kick off this spring selling season. The, uh, like you said, Redfin reported that US home prices rose 0.4% in February on a monthly basis. That is the slowest pace since July of 2014. The combination of mortgage rates moving lower, also the slower price growth is could bring out more buyers to from the sidelines. However, some areas in the country are like Texas and Florida are dealing with homes sitting on the market, but this is an opportunity for buyers to negotiate the price. It's becoming more of a buyer's market in some areas.
In some areas. Okay. Danny, we're going to be watching closely for where it becomes a buyer's market and other areas too, hopefully, that grows out a little bit more. Appreciate it, Danny.
