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Special Topics
by Tom Moeller June 16, 2005
Housing starts edged 0.2% higher to 2.009M units in May following a downwardly revised 9.4% gain in April.Consensus expectations had been for 2.041M starts.
Single-family starts rose 4.7% m/m on top of the downwardly revised 5.0% increase during April. An 8.0% (3.8% y/y) increase single family starts in the Northeast recovered all of the prior month's decline but the level has been trending sideways-to-lower since late last year. Single family starts in the Midwest jumped 22.0% (4.1% y/y) and starts in the West surged 19.1 (-6.9% y/y). Weakness last month was in the South where a 7.8% (+10.0% y/y) decline reversed half of the prior month's surge.
Multi family starts reversed nearly all of the prior month's gain with a 19.3% decline.
Building permits fell 4.6% and have been slightly lower this year.
| Housing Starts (000s, AR) | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,009 | 2,005 | 1.8% | 1,950 | 1,854 | 1,7 10 |
| Single-family | 1,704 | 1,627 | 3.3% | 1,604 | 1,505 | 1,363 |
| Multi-family | 305 | 378 | -6.2% | 345 | 349 | 347 |
| Building Permits | 2,050 | 2,148 | -3.7% | 2,058 | 1,8 88 | 1,749 |
