Multi-Family Projects Spur US Construction Rebound

Economists project the housing sector will contribute to economic growth nationally for the first time since 2008, Bloomberg News reported.

Multi-family units will lead the construction industry out of their rut, according to Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America, and Celia Chen, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Meyer predicts that work will begin on 260,000 apartment buildings and townhouse developments countrywide in 2012 — up 45 percent from last year, while Chen projects 310,000 developments will break ground, an improvement of 74 percent from 2011.

As the economy improves, more people are leaving shared residences, the economists pointed out, while overall rental demand has also grown.

“Given the ongoing shift from owning to renting, there is increasing demand for multi-family construction,” Meyer told Bloomberg News. “Foreclosures are transitioning people out of ownership.”

Source: The Real Deal