Mar 28 2007 1:42PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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Amidst the sour news from the housing markets, 36 cities, 9 with substantial housing markets, had more housing permits in February than the average month during the peak of the housing boom from January 2005 to February 2006. Houston and Seattle are among the largest housing markets in the country. Portland and Austin are in the next tier.

Housing is a local market. Each of these cities has one or more strong drivers of housing demand that offsets the impact of national market trends. Houston and Mobile are being boosted by hurricane rebuilding and refugees from New Orleans. Home demand in Houston and Tulsa is being spurred by their thriving oil and gas industries. Providence is simply cheaper than Boston and very close. Portland is attracting people from California. Austin and Huntsville are enjoying the recovery of their electronics and defense industries. Savannah is a cheaper alternative to the Florida beaches. Providence, Portland and Seattle had rapidly rising home prices in the last few years. But unlike the rapid price rises in California and Florida, it was primarily based on real demand for additional housing.

The other 27 cities with rising permits are mostly tired, old manufacturing towns, such as Benton Harbor Michigan, where housing construction has dwindled to a negligible level so a small random change in permitting makes a large percentage change. Notably, eight of these towns are in Mississippi, Louisiana or Alabama and seven are in Texas. None are in California or Florida.