Global| Mar 16 2017U.S. Housing Starts Strengthen; Single-Family Near Ten-Year High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during February improved 3.0% to 1.288 million (AR) from 1.251 million in January, revised from 1.246 million. Expectations had been for 1.260 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Starts of single- [...]
Housing starts during February improved 3.0% to 1.288 million (AR) from 1.251 million in January, revised from 1.246 million. Expectations had been for 1.260 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Starts of single-family units increased 6.3% to 872,000, the highest level since October 2007. Starts of multi-family homes declined 3.7% to 416,000, down for the third month in the last four.
By region, housing starts in the West jumped 35.7% (4.2% y/y) to 323,000, but have been range-bound since October. Elsewhere in the country starts declined. Starts in the South fell 3.8% (+7.7% y/y) to 659,000, but remained near the August 2007 high. Starts in the Midwest fell 4.6% (-11.4% y/y) to 187,000 following a 12.9% fall. In the Northeast, starts declined 9.8% (+48.8% y/y) to 119,000 and have trended sideways for twelve months.
Building permits declined 6.2% (+4.4% y/y) to 1.213 million from 1.293 million. Permits to build single-family homes increased 3.1% (13.5% y/y) to 832,000, nearly a ten-year high. Permits to build multi-family units fell 21.6% (-11.2% y/y) to 381,000.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,288 | 1,251 | 1,275 | 3.6 | 1,176 | 1,108 | 1,001 |
| Single-Family | 872 | 819 | 809 | 0.9 | 784 | 713 | 648 |
| Multi-Family | 416 | 432 | 466 | 9.6 | 392 | 395 | 356 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 119 | 132 | 90 | 48.8 | 116 | 136 | 109 |
| Midwest | 187 | 196 | 225 | -11.4 | 182 | 151 | 159 |
| South | 659 | 685 | 568 | 7.7 | 584 | 556 | 497 |
| West | 323 | 238 | 392 | 4.2 | 291 | 265 | 236 |
| Building Permits | 1,213 | 1,293 | 1,228 | 4.4 | 1,171 | 1,178 | 1,053 |
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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