could it happen here as well16 Mar 2018 14:34
US Housing Starts Pull Back More Than Expected In February
Fri, 16th Mar 2018 13:34
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - New residential construction in the US showed a sharp pullback in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.
The report said housing starts plunged by 7.0% to an annual rate of 1.236 million in February after jumping by 10.1% to a revised 1.329 million in January.
Economists had expected housing starts to drop by 2.7% to a rate of 1.290 million from the 1.326 million originally reported for the previous month.
The sharp pullback in housing starts was primarily due to a steep drop in multi-family starts, which plummeted by 26.1% to a rate of 334,000 in February after soaring by 25.6% to a rate of 452,000 in January.
On the other hand, the report said single-family starts climbed by 2.9% to a rate of 902,000 in February after jumping by 3.5% to a rate of 877,000 in January.
The Commerce Department also said building permits tumbled by 5.7% to a rate of 1.298 million in February after surging up by 5.9% to a revised 1.377 million in January.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to slump by 5.4% to a rate of 1.32 million from the 1.396 million originally reported for the previous month.
Multi-family permits plunged by 14.8% to a rate of 426,000, while single-family permits edged down by 0.6% to a rate of 872,000.
Compared to the same month a year ago, housing starts in February were down by 4.0%, but building permits were up by 6.5%.
On Thursday, the National Association of Home Builders released a separate report showing a modest decrease in homebuilder confidence in March.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged down to 70 in March from a revised 71 in February. Economists had expected the index to dip to 71 from the 72 originally reported for the previous month.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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