Recent Updates
- China: International Trade (Nov)
- US: Public Debt (Nov), Consumer Sentiment (Dec-prelim), Employment Situation (Nov)
- Global Sector PMI (Nov)
- Consumer Sentiment Detail (Dec-prelim)
- US Sector PMI (Nov)
- Armenia: International Reserves (Nov-Prelim)
- US: Establishment Survey Detail (Nov)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Wholesale Inventories Grow While Sales Decline
Wholesale inventories increased 0.8% month-on-month (6.9% year-over-year) during October...
U.S. Consumer Credit Usage Expands
Consumer credit outstanding increased $25.38 billion during October...
German IP Takes Surprising October Slip
Germany's industrial production slowed to a gain of only 0.1% in September then dropped by 0.5% in October...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to 10-Year High; Record Goods Shortfall
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened for the fifth consecutive month to $55.49 billion in October...
U.S. ADP Private Sector Payroll Growth Eases
The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls increased 179,000 during November...
by Tom Moeller April 17, 2012
Housing starts unexpectedly returned to a five month low last month. Despite mild weather, the 5.8% decline (+10.3% y/y) left starts at 654,000 in March. Expectations had been for 700,000.
Lower starts of multi-family homes accounted for the decline in the total. They fell 16.9% (+9.7% y/y) following two months of strong increase. Starts of single-family homes slipped 0.2% m/m but rose 10.5% y/y. The performance amongst regions was mixed. Starts in the South fell 15.9% m/m. Elsewhere, starts rose by one-third in the Northeast but were little changed in the Midwest and West.
Building permits rose 4.5% m/m during March to 747,000. The nearly one-third y/y rise brought permits to the highest since September 2008. Single-family permits fell 3.5% (+17.9% y/y). Multi-family permits increased 20.8% and by 56.6% y/y.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 654 | 694 | 714 | 10.3 | 611 | 585 | 554 |
| Single-Family | 462 | 463 | 509 | 10.5 | 434 | 471 | 442 |
| Multi-Family | 192 | 231 | 205 | 9.7 | 177 | 114 | 112 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 89 | 67 | 73 | 45.9 | 68 | 72 | 61 |
| Midwest | 102 | 101 | 103 | 25.9 | 103 | 97 | 95 |
| South | 334 | 397 | 400 | -0.9 | 309 | 296 | 281 |
| West | 129 | 129 | 138 | 13.2 | 131 | 120 | 117 |
| Building Permits | 747 | 715 | 682 | 30.1 | 606 | 603 | 582 |
