Global| Feb 17 2016U.S. Housing Starts Fall Again
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during January declined 3.8% (+1.8% y/y) to 1.099 million (AR) from 1.143 million, revised from 1.149 million. The shortfall followed a 2.8% drop in December. The latest figure disappointed expectations for 1.17 million [...]
Housing starts during January declined 3.8% (+1.8% y/y) to 1.099 million (AR) from 1.143 million, revised from 1.149 million. The shortfall followed a 2.8% drop in December. The latest figure disappointed expectations for 1.17 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Single-family starts fell 3.9% (+3.5% y/y) to 731,000, the lowest level since October. Starts of multi-family units declined 3.7% (-1.6% y/y) to 368,000.
By region, starts in the Midwest fell 12.8% (-6.2% y/y) to 136,000, the lowest level since February. In the Northeast, starts declined 3.7% (+44.4% y/y) to 156,000 following a 26.6% increase. Starts in the South fell 2.9% (+4.9% y/y) to 560,000 after a 5.7% drop, while starts in the West eased 0.4% (-15.7% y/y) to 247,000, down for the third month in four.
Building permits ticked 0.2% lower to 1.202 million (+13.5% y/y) from 1.204 million. Permits to build single-family units fell 1.6% (+9.6% y/y) to 720,000, but multi-family permits increased 2.1% (19.9% y/y) to 482,000.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Lessons from the Crisis: Ending Too Big to Fail is the title of yesterday's speech by Neel Kashkari, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and it is available here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,099 | 1,143 | 1,176 | 1.8 | 1,107 | 1,001 | 928 |
| Single-Family | 731 | 761 | 786 | 3.5 | 715 | 648 | 618 |
| Multi-Family | 368 | 382 | 390 | -1.6 | 396 | 356 | 307 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 156 | 162 | 128 | 44.4 | 139 | 110 | 97 |
| Midwest | 136 | 156 | 168 | -6.2 | 152 | 163 | 150 |
| South | 560 | 577 | 612 | 4.9 | 554 | 496 | 464 |
| West | 247 | 248 | 268 | -15.7 | 266 | 235 | 215 |
| Building Permits | 1,202 | 1,204 | 1,282 | 13.5 | 1,173 | 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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