U.S. Housing Starts Improve Sharply in November
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Both single- and multi-family starts increase.
- Regional changes are mostly positive.
- Building permits strengthen.
Housing starts rose 11.8% (8.3% y/y) during November to 1.679 million units (SAAR) from 1.502 million in October, revised from 1.520 million. It was the highest level of housing starts since March. A November level of 1.570 million starts had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
The rise in starts overall in November reflected an 11.3% gain (-0.8% y/y) in single-family starts to 1.173 million. The increase was to the highest level since March and followed four consecutive months of decline. Starts of multi-family homes improved 12.9% (37.1% y/y) to 506,000, the highest level since February 2020.
Building permits increased 3.6% (0.9% y/y) to 1.712 million from 1.653 million in October, revised from 1.650 million. It was the highest level of permits in three months. Permits to build single-family homes gained 2.7% (-4.5% y/y) to 1.103 million. Permits to build multi-family homes rose 5.2% (12.6% y/y) in November to 609,000.
By region, housing starts rose 27.5% in the Northeast (-9.1% y/y) in November to 130,000. Starts in the South improved 18.4% (15.8% y/y) to 933,000. Starts in the West increased 5.1% (-0.2% y/y) to 412,000. Partially offsetting these gains was a 7.3% decline (7.9% y/y) in starts in the Midwest to 204,000.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
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.
More Economy in Brief
Asia