Global| Sep 19 2006Housing Starts Off 20% Y/Y
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts in August fell hard for the sixth month this year to 1.665M units. The 6.0% m/m decline outpaced Consensus expectations for a drop to 1.75M, lowered starts 19.8% below last August and left the latest level 26.5% below [...]
Housing starts in August fell hard for the sixth month this year to 1.665M units. The 6.0% m/m decline outpaced Consensus expectations for a drop to 1.75M, lowered starts 19.8% below last August and left the latest level 26.5% below the series' peak reached this past January.
Single-family starts fell 5.9% last month to 1.36M, off 25.0% from the January peak while multi family starts dropped 6.7% for the third straight monthly decline.
By region single family housing starts in the West fell 4.4% m/m (-33.4% y/y) and in the Midwest starts fell 12.9% (-28.7% y/y). Single family starts in the South also fell by 6.1% (-9.9% y/y) but in the Northeast starts rose for the second consecutive month after a one-third drop during June (-19.3% y/y).
Building permits fell for the seventh consecutive month, off 2.3%. Permits to start singe family homes were even weaker and fell 3.5% (-25.0% y/y).
Beyond Neighborhood Revitalization from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston can be found here.
| Housing Starts (000s, AR) | August | July | Y/Y | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,665 | 1,772 | -19.8% | 2,073 | 1,950 | 1,854 |
| Single-family | 1,360 | 1,445 | -20.6% | 1,719 | 1,604 | 1,505 |
| Multi-family | 305 | 327 | -15.7% | 354 | 345 | 349 |
| Building Permits | 1,722 | 1,763 | -21.9% | 2,159 | 2,058 | 1,888 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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