No material availability problems were reported, and lead times were virtually unchanged. Managers do not anticipate material availability problems in coming months. Firms continued to trim inventories and many plan to trim further through the spring. Real Estate and Construction Residential construction activity continued to slow in December, while commercial building remained solid. Housing starts fell in most of the district and were well below year-ago levels in some areas.
Builders expect a flattening out of residential building activity over the next three months.
Sales of new and existing homes remained solid in western parts of the district, but were slow elsewhere. Mortgage demand was mixed relative to the previous month, but still down considerably from a year ago. Lenders expect refinancing activity to increase in coming months in response to the recent easing in mortgage rates. Commercial construction activity held steady, and vacancy and absorption rates remained largely unchanged. There was, however, some concern about overbuilding in the retail sector.