Global| Jul 17 2014U.S. Housing Starts Decline As Activity In South Tanks
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New building activity turned in a very lopsided performance last month. Housing starts during June fell 9.3% to 893,000 AR (+7.5% y/y) following a 7.3% May decline to 985,000, revised from 1.001 million. The latest figure was well [...]
New building activity turned in a very lopsided performance last month. Housing starts during June fell 9.3% to 893,000 AR (+7.5% y/y) following a 7.3% May decline to 985,000, revised from 1.001 million. The latest figure was well below expectations for 1.020 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Last month's decline reflected a 9.9% retreat (+38.3% y/y) in starts of multi-family homes and a 9.0% drop (4.3% y/y) in starts of single-family homes.
The South's 29.6% plunge (-10.5% y/y) in starts led the way down for the total. Elsewhere, new building activity improved. In the Midwest, starts rose 28.1% (79.5% y/y). That was accompanied by a 14.1% rise (22.1% y/y) in the Northeast and a 2.6% gain (-4.9% y/y) in the West.
Building permits declined for the third month in the last four. Last month's 4.2% drop (+2.7% y/y) followed a 5.1% May shortfall. It was led by a 14.9% decline (+6.8% y/y) in multi-family permits. Permits to build single-family homes increased 2.6% (0.6% y/y) to the highest level since November.
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) | Jun | May | Apr | Jun Y/Y % | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 893 | 985 | 1,063 | 7.5 | 929 | 783 | 612 |
| Single-Family | 575 | 632 | 649 | -4.3 | 621 | 537 | 434 |
| Multi-Family | 318 | 353 | 414 | 38.3 | 308 | 247 | 178 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 105 | 92 | 124 | 22.1 | 96 | 80 | 68 |
| Midwest | 219 | 171 | 195 | 79.5 | 149 | 128 | 103 |
| South | 375 | 533 | 494 | -10.5 | 467 | 400 | 309 |
| West | 194 | 189 | 250 | -4.9 | 217 | 175 | 132 |
| Building Permits | 963 | 1,005 | 1,059 | 2.7 | 964 | 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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