THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408240478
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
The wet weather in July dampened housing starts in Hampton Roads, mirroring a decline for the month in the Northeast and the South.
Fewer residential permits - 396 total - were issued by the seven cities in Hampton Roads, according to the Norfolk-based Builders and Contractors Exchange, Inc.
Last month's figure was down 18.5 percent when compared with the 486 permits issued in June. Last month also marked a 27 percent drop from the 542 permits issued in July 1993.
Through July 1994, 3,699 residential permits were issued, compared with the 3,612 issued through July in 1993.
``In the total market, we're still 4.2 percent ahead of last year's pace,'' said Bill Dore, director of the Residential Data Bank, a Virginia Beach-based housing data service. Last year at this time, interest rates had dipped and people had gone into a buying frenzy, he said.
Housing starts for the U.S. rebounded in July to an annual rate of 1,415,000 units after plunging in June, the Commerce Department reported last week. National housing starts rose 4.7 percent from June, but plunged 10.3 percent in the Northeast. The South showed a small decline of 0.7 percent. Starts in the Midwest rose 14.1 percent and 12.5 percent in the West.
Except for Newport News, each city in Hampton Roads reported slightly fewer residential permits.
Monthly housing figures can't be used to draw any significant conclusions about long-term home-building trends, said Bob Lyons of the Builders and Contractors Exchange.
``Although the number of units are down in some cities, the dollar value is up,'' he said.
In Virginia Beach, for example, residents are building more expensive houses and moving away from tract houses, Lyons said. Through July 1994, the dollar value of residential permits totaled $98.6 million, compared with $87.3 million for the first seven months of 1993.
July was an odd month for several factors.
``You couldn't pour foundations with all the rain we had,'' Dore said. ``People are nervous about what's happening with interest rates. Whenever there's a transition period, people are very hesitant to do anything.
``Every city by its nature has its own little cycle,'' he said.
But for the most part, Dore acknowledged that 1994 is showing a general upward trend from 1993.
``The bottom line is we're doing all right,'' Dore said. ``Housing is not a month to month thing. It's a continuum. You have to look at that way.'' by CNB