Global| Jun 17 2016U.S. Housing Starts Ease
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts fell 0.3% during May to 1.164 million units (SAAR) following a 4.9% April rise to 1.167 million units, revised from 1.172 million. Expectations were for 1.150 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]
Housing starts fell 0.3% during May to 1.164 million units (SAAR) following a 4.9% April rise to 1.167 million units, revised from 1.172 million. Expectations were for 1.150 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Starts of single-family homes improved 0.3% (10.1% y/y) to 764,000 following a 1.5% increase. Multi-family starts, which include apartments & condominiums, declined 1.2% (+8.4% y/y) to 400,000 after an 11.9% rise.
By region, starts were mixed last month. In the Northeast, starts fell by one-third m/m to 82,000, down roughly two-thirds versus the peak last June. Starts in the Midwest fell 2.5% to 199,000, but were one-third higher y/y. Moving up in May, starts in the West gained 14.4% (1.1% y/y) to 270,000. In the South, starts rose 1.5% (20.7% y/y) to 613,000.
Permits to build a new home improved 0.7% last month (-10.1% y/y) following a 4.9% rise. Permits to build single-family homes fell 2.0% (+4.8% y/y), but multi-family permits increased 5.9% (-28.1% 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.
The St. Louis Fed's New Characterization of the Outlook for the U.S. Economy from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is available here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,164 | 1,167 | 1,113 | 9.5 | 1,107 | 1,001 | 928 |
| Single-Family | 764 | 762 | 751 | 10.1 | 713 | 648 | 618 |
| Multi-Family | 400 | 405 | 362 | 8.4 | 395 | 356 | 307 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 82 | 123 | 82 | -42.7 | 136 | 110 | 97 |
| Midwest | 199 | 204 | 159 | 37.2 | 151 | 163 | 150 |
| South | 613 | 604 | 540 | 20.7 | 555 | 496 | 464 |
| West | 270 | 236 | 260 | 1.1 | 265 | 235 | 215 |
| Building Permits | 1,138 | 1,130 | 1,077 | -10.1 | 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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