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Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 16, 2018
Total housing starts increased 9.7% (7.3% y/y) during January to 1.326 million (AR) from 1.209 million in December, revised from 1.192 million. It was the highest level of starts since October 2016. A level of 1.227 million starts had been expected in the Action Economic Forecast Survey.
Starts of single-family homes improved 3.7% (7.6% y/y) to 877,000 from 846,000. Multi-family starts jumped 23.7% (6.7% y/y) to 449,000 from 363,000.
Movement in starts last month varied around the country. Housing starts in the West gained 10.7% to 393,000, the highest level since December 2006. Starts in the South increased 9.3% to 655,000 after an 11.3% fall. Starts in the Northeast jumped 45.3% to 128,000, the highest level in three months. In the Midwest, starts declined 10.2% to 150,000, the lowest level since March of last year.
Building permits increased 7.4% both m/m and y/y to 1.396 million after a 0.2% December dip. Single-family permits declined 1.7% (+7.4% y/y) to 866,00 and reversed December's gain. Permits to build multi-family homes jumped 26.5% (+7.3% y/y) to 530,000, after falling 4.3%.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1,326 | 1,209 | 1,299 | 7.3 | 1,203 | 1,174 | 1,112 |
Single-Family | 877 | 846 | 946 | 7.6 | 849 | 782 | 715 |
Multi-Family | 449 | 363 | 353 | 6.7 | 354 | 392 | 397 |
Starts By Region | |||||||
Northeast | 128 | 88 | 93 | 2.4 | 112 | 116 | 138 |
Midwest | 150 | 167 | 179 | -25.7 | 179 | 182 | 153 |
South | 655 | 599 | 675 | -3.4 | 599 | 585 | 556 |
West | 393 | 355 | 352 | 70.1 | 313 | 291 | 265 |
Building Permits | 1,396 | 1,300 | 1,303 | 7.4 | 1,254 | 1,207 | 1,183 |