New housing starts are down in Westport along with those in the nation.
Of this year’s 64 Westport housing starts, 15 of them were part of the Bradley Lane development, shown here, in the Saugatuck area. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
So far this year, there have been 64 new housing starts in Westport, according to the Building Department, down almost 21 percent from a year ago when there were 81 in the comparable period. But even that figure is misleading.
“It’s noteworthy when you realize that 15 of the 64 starts are the condos on Bradley Lane, leaving only 49 single family starts,” a Building Department official said. That makes the drop 39.5 percent for single family homes, slightly higher than the national average.
On a national level, the government reported today that home construction took its fourth tumble in a row during October, falling 4.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted 791,000 annual rate, after falling a revised 3.0 percent in September.
For the year, national housing starts were down 38 percent and building permits were 40 percent lower, reflecting how the housing industry has slammed to a halt amid tumbling home values, slumping sales and tighter credit markets.
