The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tells MHProNews while the number of permits issued for new housing starts rose 1.8 percent in Jan. to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 925,000—the best rate since the middle of 2008—the number of overall actual housing starts nationwide dropped 8.5 percent to a SAAR of 890,000. Meanwhile, single-family starts in Jan. registered a slim 0.8 percent gain from Dec. 2012, the strongest rate of single-family building since 2008. Multifamily housing starts dropped 24.1 percent to 277,000 units. On a regional basis, overall housing production (single-family and multi-family) moved up 16.7 percent in the West and 4.1 percent in the South, but dropped 50 percent in the Midwest and 35.3 percent in the Northeast.

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