Global| Apr 19 2016U.S. Housing Starts Decline Sharply
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts fell 8.8% (+14.2% y/y) during March to 1.089 million units (AR) from 1.194 million in February, revised from 1.178 million. It was the lowest level of starts since October. Expectations were for 1.89 million starts in [...]
Housing starts fell 8.8% (+14.2% y/y) during March to 1.089 million units (AR) from 1.194 million in February, revised from 1.178 million. It was the lowest level of starts since October. Expectations were for 1.89 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Starts of single-family homes declined 9.2% to 764,000, but remained 22.6% higher than one year earlier. This was the lowest point also since October. Multi-family starts, which include apartments & condominiums, were much weaker, and fell 7.9% (-1.8% y/y) to the lowest level since February of last year.
By region, starts in the Midwest declined 25.4% (+5.6% y/y) followed by a 15.7% decline (+30.8% y/y) in the West. In the South, starts were off 8.4% (+8.6% y/y), but in the Northeast starts rose by nearly two-thirds (21.0% y/y).
Permits to build a new home declined 7.7% (+4.6% y/y) to the lowest level in twelve months. Permits to build single-family homes eased 1.2% (+13.2% y/y), but multi-family permits dropped 18.6% (-9.3% y/y).
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
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| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,089 | 1,194 | 1,117 | 14.2 | 1,107 | 1,001 | 928 |
| Single-Family | 764 | 841 | 771 | 22.6 | 713 | 648 | 618 |
| Multi-Family | 325 | 353 | 346 | -1.8 | 395 | 356 | 307 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 121 | 75 | 146 | 21.0 | 136 | 110 | 97 |
| Midwest | 150 | 201 | 154 | 5.6 | 151 | 163 | 150 |
| South | 555 | 606 | 573 | 8.6 | 555 | 496 | 464 |
| West | 263 | 312 | 244 | 30.8 | 265 | 235 | 215 |
| Building Permits | 1,086 | 1,177 | 1,204 | 4.6 | 1,164 | 1,052 | 991 |
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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