Global| Sep 18 2014U.S. Housing Starts and Building Permits Decline
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during August slumped 14.4% to 956,000 AR (+8.0% y/y) following a 22.9% July jump to 1,117,000, revised from 1,093,000. The latest level missed expectations for 1,035,000 starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]
Housing starts during August slumped 14.4% to 956,000 AR (+8.0% y/y) following a 22.9% July jump to 1,117,000, revised from 1,093,000. The latest level missed expectations for 1,035,000 starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last month's decline reflected a 31.7% slump (+16.8% y/y) in starts of multi-family homes following a sharp recovery in July. Starts of single-family homes fell 2.4% (+4.2% y/y) following an 11.1% July jump.
Starts in the West retreated 24.7% (+3.6% y/y) to 204,000 while starts in the Northeast were off 12.9% (+24.7% y/y) to 121,000. Starts in the South declined 10.9% (+7.5% y/y) to 474,000 while starts in the Midwest fell 10.3% (+4.7% y/y) to 157,000.
Building permits retreated 5.6% (+5.3% y/y) following an 8.6% rise. The decline was led by a 12.7% drop (+17.4% y/y) in multi-family permits. Permits to build single-family homes slipped 0.8% (-0.8% y/y), about the same as they did in July.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
The statement which came with yesterday's FOMC meeting can be found here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Aug | Jul | Jun | Aug Y/Y % | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 956 | 1,117 | 909 | 8.0 | 930 | 784 | 612 |
| Single-Family | 643 | 659 | 593 | 4.2 | 621 | 537 | 434 |
| Multi-Family | 313 | 458 | 316 | 16.8 | 309 | 247 | 178 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 121 | 139 | 95 | 24.7 | 96 | 80 | 68 |
| Midwest | 157 | 175 | 196 | 4.7 | 149 | 128 | 103 |
| South | 474 | 532 | 392 | 7.5 | 467 | 400 | 309 |
| West | 204 | 271 | 226 | 3.6 | 217 | 175 | 132 |
| Building Permits | 998 | 1,057 | 973 | 5.3 | 990 | 829 | 624 |
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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