Recent Updates
- Japan: NCI Economic Activity Index (Aug)
- US: NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (Aug)
- Canada: Wholesale trade, MSIO (June)
- Pakistan: Foreign Currency Deposits and Utilization (JUL)
- US: Empire State Mfg Survey (Aug)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller July 19, 2005
Housing starts were unchanged last month at 2.004M units.Consensus expectations had been for 2.05M starts.
Single-family starts slipped 2.5% after rising 4.2% in May which was a slightly weaker gain than reported initially. The June decline in single family starts occurred in the Midwest (-10.0% m/m, +13.4% y/y) and in the West (-10.2% m/m, +4.8% y/y). In the Northeast starts rose to the second highest level on record (5.1% m/m, 7.5% y/y) and in the South single family starts rose as well (4.0% m/m, 10.4% y/y).
Multi family starts gained back about half of the prior month's decline with a 14.2% rise.
Building permits rose 2.4% and generally have moved sideways this year.
Housing Starts (000s, AR) | June | May | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 2,004 | 2,004 | 9.7% | 1,950 | 1,854 | 1,7 10 |
Single-family | 1,667 | 1,709 | 9.2% | 1,604 | 1,505 | 1,363 |
Multi-family | 337 | 295 | 12.0% | 345 | 349 | 347 |
Building Permits | 2,111 | 2,062 | 4.8% | 2,058 | 1,8 88 | 1,749 |