Homebuilding up, but still low

Construction increased in 2016 for the seventh year in a row, adding 1.17 million houses and apartments. But that was still the lowest growth rate since 2011, the report noted.

Building of single-family homes has been rising faster, up 9.4 percent last year to 781,600 units. Even so, residential construction still trails the 1.4-1.5 million annual rate that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s, the report notes.

On Friday, the government reported that housing starts fell 5.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million units.

“We’re still not yet at 1.2 million starts,” Herbert said. “Back in the day, it would have been a bad year during a recession, and we’re still trying to get back up there. We’re certainly not back to normal in terms of supply.”