Global| Dec 19 2012U.S. Housing Starts Remain Near Highest Level Since 2008
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Builders began slightly fewer residential housing units last month, but earlier gains left recent levels near the four year high. Total housing starts fell 3.0% (+21.6% y/y) during November to 861,000 (AR) from 888,000 during October, [...]
Builders began slightly fewer residential housing units last month, but earlier gains left recent levels near the four year high. Total housing starts fell 3.0% (+21.6% y/y) during November to 861,000 (AR) from 888,000 during October, revised down from 894,000. Expectations had been for 870,000 starts during last month. Since the recession trough in April 2009 starts have risen 80.1%. A 4.1% decline (+22.8% y/y) in single-family starts led last month's total decline. That was accompanied by a 1.0% drop (+19.4% y/y) in multi-family starts.
By region, starts in the West paced last month's decline with a 19.2% falloff and were unchanged y/y. That was followed by a 5.2% decline (-25.5% y/y) in the Northeast. Elsewhere in the country there were m/m increases. Starts in the Midwest rose 3.3% (68.1% y/y) while in the South they increased 2.9% (33.1% y/y).
Building permits in November gained 3.6% (+26.8% y/y) to 899,000. Permits for multi-family homes jumped 10.6% (29.5% y/y). Single-family permits slipped 0.2% m/m but were up by roughly one-quarter y/y.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
What Are the Costs of Superstorm Sandy? from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here.
| Housing Starts (000s,SAAR) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Y/Y% | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 861 | 888 | 843 | 21.6 | 612 | 586 | 554 |
| Single-Family | 565 | 589 | 590 | 22.8 | 434 | 471 | 442 |
| Multi-Family | 296 | 299 | 253 | 19.4 | 178 | 114 | 112 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 73 | 77 | 77 | -25.5 | 68 | 72 | 61 |
| Midwest | 158 | 153 | 147 | 68.1 | 103 | 97 | 95 |
| South | 458 | 445 | 418 | 33.1 | 309 | 296 | 281 |
| West | 172 | 213 | 201 | 0.0 | 131 | 120 | 117 |
| Building Permits | 899 | 868 | 890 | 26.8 | 624 | 604 | 582 |
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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