Global| Nov 19 2014U.S. Housing Starts Weaken Overall; Building Permits Reach Six-Year High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Housing starts during October fell 2.8% (+7.7% y/y) to 1.009 million (AR) from 1.038 million in September, revised from 1.017 million. The latest level fell short of expectations for 1.028 million starts in the Action Economics [...]
Housing starts during October fell 2.8% (+7.7% y/y) to 1.009 million (AR) from 1.038 million in September, revised from 1.017 million. The latest level fell short of expectations for 1.028 million starts in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Starts in the multi-family sector fell 15.4% (-6.8% y/y) to 313,000 and reversed September's gain. Starts of single-family homes rose, however, by 4.2% (16.3% y/y) to the highest level since last November.
Permits to build new homes moved 4.8% higher (2.7% y/y) and the increase brought them to the highest level since June 2008. The gain reflected a 1.4% rise (3.1% y/y) in single-family permits and a 10.0% improvement (2.1% y/y) in permits to build multi-family homes.
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
The Risks to the Inflation Outlook from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is available here.
| Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Oct | Sep | Aug | Oct Y/Y % | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,009 | 1,038 | 963 | 7.7 | 930 | 784 | 612 |
| Single-Family | 696 | 668 | 641 | 16.3 | 621 | 537 | 434 |
| Multi-Family | 313 | 370 | 322 | -6.8 | 309 | 247 | 178 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 97 | 116 | 109 | -21.1 | 96 | 80 | 68 |
| Midwest | 145 | 178 | 177 | -15.8 | 149 | 128 | 103 |
| South | 546 | 496 | 475 | 33.3 | 467 | 400 | 309 |
| West | 221 | 248 | 202 | -1.1 | 217 | 175 | 132 |
| Building Permits | 1,080 | 1,031 | 1,003 | 2.7 | 990 | 829 | 624 |
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.
