Global| Mar 17 2015U.S. Housing Starts Suffer Due To Heavy Snowfall
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
It's been a harsh winter in some regions of the country. Housing starts during February declined 17.0% to 897,000 units (-3.3% y/y) from 1.081 million in January, revised from 1.065 million. The decline disappointed expectations for [...]
It's been a harsh winter in some regions of the country. Housing starts during February declined 17.0% to 897,000 units (-3.3% y/y) from 1.081 million in January, revised from 1.065 million. The decline disappointed expectations for 1.045 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Single-family starts fell 15.2% m/m to 592,000 (+0.5% y/y) versus 698,000 in January. The decline was accompanied by a 20.8% drop in multi-family starts to 304,000 (-10.3% y/y) versus 384,000 in January.
Record snowfall dropped housing starts in the Northeast by 56.5% to 47,000 units (-46.0% y/y), the lowest level since early-2009. Heavy snows in the Midwest also lowered starts 37.0% to 97,000 (-20.5% y/y). In the West, starts declined 18.2% (+10.1 y/y). Starts in the Southern region suffered a lesser impact and fell 2.5% (+2.4% y/y).
Building permits improved 3.0% last month to 1.092 million (7.7% y/y) from 1.060 million. Single-family permits declined 6.2% to 620,000 (+2.8% y/y) but multi-family permits rose 18.3% to 472,000 (14.8% 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) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 897 | 1,081 | 1,081 | -3.3 | 1,001 | 930 | 784 |
| Single-Family | 592 | 698 | 725 | 0.5 | 646 | 621 | 537 |
| Multi-Family | 304 | 384 | 356 | -10.3 | 355 | 309 | 247 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 47 | 108 | 113 | -46.0 | 110 | 97 | 80 |
| Midwest | 97 | 154 | 170 | -20.5 | 160 | 149 | 129 |
| South | 514 | 527 | 499 | 2.4 | 496 | 467 | 400 |
| West | 239 | 292 | 299 | 10.1 | 236 | 217 | 175 |
| Building Permits | 1,092 | 1,060 | 1,060 | 7.7 | 1,033 | 990 | 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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