Housing Starts Ouch
Housing starts and building permits fell in October:
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000. This is 4.0 percent (±1.9%) below the revised September rate of 575,000 and is 24.3 percent (±1.9%) below the October 2008 estimate of 729,000.
Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 451,000; this is 0.2 percent (±1.0%)* below the revised September figure of 452,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 85,000 in October.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000. This is 10.6 percent (±8.7%) below the revised September estimate of 592,000 and is 30.7 percent (±8.3%) below the October 2008 rate of 763,000.
Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 476,000; this is 6.8 percent (±7.5%)* below the revised September figure of 511,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 48,000.
There is no way to spin this; this is just plain ugly. Starts were down in all regions. Permits at least showed a gain in the Midwest. Permits were flat in the Northeast.
- November 18th
