Global| Apr 16 2013U.S. Housing Starts Gain Reflects Firmer Multi-family Sector
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Total housing starts jumped to 1,036M (AR) last month from 968,000 in February, initially reported as 917,000. Expectations had been for 930,000 starts in the Action Economics survey of economists. It was the highest level since June [...]
Total housing starts jumped to 1,036M (AR) last month from 968,000 in February, initially reported as 917,000. Expectations had been for 930,000 starts in the Action Economics survey of economists. It was the highest level since June 2008. More starts of multi-family units led last month's rise with a nearly one-third jump to 417,000 (85.3% y/y). Starts of single-family homes fell 4.8% (28.7% y/y) to 619,000.
By region, starts in the South gained 10.9% (58.2% y/y) to 560,000 while starts in the Midwest rose 9.6% (28.4% y/y) to 149,000. Starts in the West rose a moderate 2.7% (53.7% y/y) to 229,000 but starts in the Northeast fell 5.8% (+12.6% y/y) to 98,000.
Building permits backpedaled 3.9% (+17.3% y/y) to 902,000 last month. Permits to build single-family homes slipped 0.5% (+27.7% y/y) to 595,000 while permits to build multi-family units dropped 10.0% (+1.3% y/y) to 307,000.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
First Impressions Can Be Misleading. Revisions to Home Price Changes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y% | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,036 | 968 | 902 | 46.7 | 781 | 612 | 586 |
| Single-Family | 619 | 650 | 616 | 28.7 | 534 | 434 | 471 |
| Multi-Family | 417 | 318 | 286 | 85.3 | 247 | 178 | 114 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 98 | 104 | 86 | 12.6 | 78 | 68 | 72 |
| Midwest | 149 | 136 | 96 | 28.4 | 129 | 103 | 97 |
| South | 560 | 505 | 485 | 58.2 | 400 | 309 | 296 |
| West | 229 | 223 | 235 | 53.7 | 173 | 132 | 120 |
| Building Permits | 902 | 939 | 904 | 17.3 | 800 | 624 | 604 |
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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