Builders across the country are in an "excellent position," Bloomberg reports ("Builders Race to Keep Up With Surging U.S. Home Demand," by Shobhana Chandra): They've sold more houses than they have time to actually build.
At the depths of the crash in 2008, only 14% of homes sold were unbuilt houses, Bloomberg says. Last year, 26% of houses sold had not yet been built. But this May, the press service reports, "almost 36 percent of all U.S. new homes sold in May weren't yet under construction, close to a seven-year high and signaling sustained strength in homebuilding as companies try to catch up. That in turn will trigger purchases of everything from cement and lumber to furniture and appliances, bolstering hiring and economic growth, economist Neil Dutta predicts."
