Global| Feb 16 2012U.S. Housing Starts Rise
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home building is improving moderately. Housing starts rose last month by 1.5% (9.9% y/y) to 699,000 from a revised 689,000 in December, initially reported as 657,000. Expectations had been for 675,000 starts in January. Starts in [...]
New home building is improving moderately. Housing starts rose last month by 1.5% (9.9% y/y) to 699,000 from a revised 689,000 in December, initially reported as 657,000. Expectations had been for 675,000 starts in January. Starts in the South rose the sharpest (26.8% y/y) while starts out West also improved (16.5% y/y). In the Northeast starts ticked up m/m but remained down 27.7% y/y and starts in the Midwest fell sharply (-11.3% y/y).
An 8.5% rise in starts of multi-family homes fueled last month's total increase. Multi-family increased 8.5% (-4.0% y/y) to 191,000. Starts of single-family homes fell 1.0% to 508,000 but still were up 16.2% y/y.
Building permits rose minimally m/m during January to 676,000 but still increased 19.0% y/y. Permits remained the highest since October 2008. Single-family permits rose 0.9% (6.2% y/y). Multi-family permits ticked up 0.4% and by roughly one-half y/y.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Mortgage Prepayment: An Avenue Foreclosed? from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is available here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 699 | 689 | 702 | 9.9 | 611 | 585 | 554 |
| Single-Family | 508 | 513 | 458 | 16.2 | 434 | 471 | 442 |
| Multi-Family | 191 | 176 | 244 | -4.0 | 177 | 114 | 112 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 68 | 63 | 96 | -27.7 | 68 | 72 | 61 |
| Midwest | 102 | 172 | 96 | -11.3 | 103 | 97 | 95 |
| South | 388 | 328 | 343 | 26.8 | 309 | 296 | 281 |
| West | 141 | 126 | 167 | 16.5 | 131 | 120 | 117 |
| Building Permits | 676 | 671 | 680 | 19.0 | 606 | 603 | 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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