Global| Jan 19 2011Winter Weather Wallops U.S. Housing Starts During December
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Severe snow storms just after Christmas dealt another setback to new housing activity last month Total housing starts fell 4.3% in December to 529,000 (AR) units from 553,000 during November, initially reported at 555,000. The latest [...]
Severe snow storms just after Christmas dealt another setback to new housing
activity last month Total housing starts fell 4.3% in December to 529,000
(AR) units from 553,000 during November, initially reported at 555,000. The
latest figure fell short of Consensus expectations for 550,000 starts. For the
year as a whole, starts nevertheless grew 5.8% from 2009 following a
three-quarters decline since the early-2006 peak.
The December decline reflected a 9.0% decline in starts of single-family homes to 417,000. The latest was the lowest level since May of 2009. Starts of multi-unit units increased a minimal 17.9% to 112,000 but remained down by one-quarter from three months ago. Starts of 2-to-4 unit structures, which are few in number, fell by one quarter m/m but starts with more than five units increased by one-quarter from the lowest level since February. Starts in the Midwest fell more than one-third m/m (-26.6% y/y) during December and starts in the Northeast fell one-quarter from November (-4.9% y/y). Starts in the South fell a minimal 2.2% (-16.0% y/y) but starts out West increased one-third m/m and by one-third y/y.
Working the other way, building permits rose 16.7% m/m (-6.8% y/y) to the highest level since March. Permits for single-family units rose 5.5% but remained down 14.9% from last December. Multi-family permits rose more than one-half m/m (18.9% y/y).
The housing starts figures can be found in Haver's USECON database.
Baby Boomers Face a Changing Retirement Landscape from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is available here.
| Housing Starts (000s,SAAR) | Dec | Nov | Oct | Dec Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 529 | 553 | 533 | -8.2% | 586 | 554 | 900 |
| Single-Family | 417 | 458 | 433 | -14.2 | 472 | 442 | 616 |
| Multi-Family | 112 | 95 | 100 | 24.4 | 115 | 112 | 284 |
| Starts By Region | |||||||
| Northeast | 58 | 77 | 81 | -4.9 | 72 | 61 | 120 |
| Midwest | 69 | 112 | 94 | -25.6 | 98 | 95 | 134 |
| South | 262 | 268 | 263 | -16.0 | 296 | 281 | 451 |
| West | 140 | 96 | 95 | 28.4 | 121 | 117 | 195 |
| Building Permits | 635 | 544 | 552 | -6.8 | 595 | 583 | 896 |
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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