Global| Aug 16 2012U.S. Housing Starts Slip While Permits Reach Cycle's High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New residential building activity fell slightly last month but the future looks brighter. July housing starts fell 1.1% to 746,000 (+21.5% y/y) from 754,000 in June, revised from 760,000. Expectations had been for 753,000 starts in [...]
New residential building activity fell slightly last month but the future looks brighter. July housing starts fell 1.1% to 746,000 (+21.5% y/y) from 754,000 in June, revised from 760,000. Expectations had been for 753,000 starts in July. Higher starts of multi-family units again led last month's improvement with a 12.4% gain (31.9% y/y) to 244,000. Starts of single-family homes fell 6.5% (+17.0% y/y) to 502,000. The performance amongst regions again was mixed m/m with the Midwest rising and other regions posting declines.
Portending a pick up in activity was a 6.8% gain in building permits to 812,000 (29.5% y/y). Single-family permits rose 4.5% (23.0% y/y) to 513,000 while multi-family permits increased 11.2% to 299,000 (42.4% 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) | Jul | Jun | May | Y/Y% | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 746 | 754 | 706 | 21.5 | 612 | 586 | 554 |
| Single-Family | 502 | 537 | 513 | 17.0 | 434 | 471 | 442 |
| Multi-Family | 244 | 217 | 193 | 31.9 | 178 | 114 | 112 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 77 | 78 | 76 | -10.5 | 68 | 72 | 61 |
| Midwest | 117 | 100 | 108 | 28.6 | 103 | 97 | 95 |
| South | 355 | 368 | 365 | 16.8 | 309 | 296 | 281 |
| West | 197 | 208 | 157 | 48.1 | 131 | 120 | 117 |
| Building Permits | 812 | 760 | 784 | 29.5 | 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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