Global| Dec 16 2015U.S. Housing Starts Rebound M/M; Building Permits Reach Five-Month High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during November recovered 10.5% to 1.173 million (SAAR) from 1.062 million in October, last month reported as 1.060 million. Starts were 18.5% higher than one year earlier. The latest figure surpassed expectations for [...]
Housing starts during November recovered 10.5% to 1.173 million (SAAR) from 1.062 million in October, last month reported as 1.060 million. Starts were 18.5% higher than one year earlier. The latest figure surpassed expectations for 1.133 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Single-family starts increased 7.6% (14.6% y/y) to 768,000, the highest level since June. A 15.1% rise (-7.3% y/y) in the West paced the gain followed by the South where single-family starts rose 8.8% (13.3% y/y). In the Northeast, single-family starts increased 1.7% (9.1% y/y) but they declined 4.4% in the Midwest (-0.9% y/y).
Starts of multi-family homes jumped 16.4% last month (20.2% y/y) to 405,000 and recovered roughly half of the prior month's decline. Multi-family starts in the South rebounded 57.3% m/m and more than doubled y/y. In the Midwest, multi-family starts increased 8.2% (4.8% y/y) but in the West they fell 13.7%, off by more than one-half y/y. In the Northeast, starts of multi-family home declined 15.7% (+34.6% y/y).
Building permits in November increased 11.0% (19.5% y/y) to 1.289 million following a 5.1% gain. A 26.9% rise (36.1% y/y) in multi-family permits led the advance. Single-family building permits edged 1.1% higher (9.0% y/y).
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Nov Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,173 | 1,062 | 1,207 | 16.5 | 1,001 | 928 | 784 |
| Single-Family | 768 | 714 | 741 | 14.6 | 647 | 620 | 537 |
| Multi-Family | 405 | 348 | 466 | 20.2 | 354 | 308 | 247 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 130 | 142 | 130 | 21.5 | 110 | 97 | 80 |
| Midwest | 174 | 174 | 137 | 1.2 | 159 | 149 | 129 |
| South | 615 | 507 | 638 | 35.5 | 497 | 467 | 400 |
| West | 254 | 239 | 302 | -7.3 | 236 | 217 | 175 |
| Building Permits | 1,289 | 1,161 | 1,105 | 19.5 | 1,052 | 987 | 829 |
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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