Global| Apr 18 2017U.S. Housing Starts Ease, While Building Permits Rise
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during March declined 6.8% to 1.215 million (AR), and retraced all of February's increase to 1.303 million, revised from 1.288 million. Expectations had been for 1.256 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast [...]
Housing starts during March declined 6.8% to 1.215 million (AR), and retraced all of February's increase to 1.303 million, revised from 1.288 million. Expectations had been for 1.256 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Starts of single-family units retreated 6.2% to 821,000 and gave back most of February's increase to a ten-year high. Starts of multi-family homes declined 7.9% to 394,000, off 15.5% during the last three months.
By region, housing starts in the West retreated 16.0% (+9.2% y/y) to 284,000 and have been range-bound since October. Elsewhere in the country, starts in the South fell 2.9% (+19.4% y/y) to 645,000, but remained near the August 2007 high. Starts in the Midwest fell 16.4% (-2.5% y/y) to 155,000, the lowest level in six months. In the Northeast, starts increased 12.9% (-14.9% y/y) to 131,000, the highest level since October.
Building permits increased 3.6% (17.0% y/y) to 1.260 million and recovered from February's decline to 1.216 million units. Permits to build single-family homes eased 1.1% (+13.5% y/y), and have moved sideways for three months. Permits to build multi-family units increased 13.8% (24.1% y/y) to 437,000, but remained one-third below the June 2015 peak.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| `Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,215 | 1,303 | 1,241 | 9.2 | 1,176 | 1,108 | 1,001 |
| Single-Family | 821 | 875 | 813 | 9.3 | 784 | 713 | 648 |
| Multi-Family | 394 | 428 | 428 | 8.8 | 392 | 395 | 356 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 131 | 116 | 126 | -14.9 | 116 | 136 | 109 |
| Midwest | 155 | 185 | 202 | -2.5 | 182 | 151 | 159 |
| South | 645 | 664 | 681 | 19.4 | 584 | 556 | 497 |
| West | 284 | 338 | 232 | 9.2 | 291 | 265 | 236 |
| Building Permits | 1,260 | 1,216 | 1,293 | 17.0 | 1,171 | 1,178 | 1,053 |
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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