The Archives
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12.16.08U.S. housing starts drop to new recordThe number of housing starts and building permits both fell to new record lows in a sign that the slump in the U.S. housing market is continuing. Nationwide, total housing starts dropped 18.9 percent in November and were 47.0 percent below last year. Single family starts alone were down 16.9 percent from last month and 46.0 percent from last November. In the south, single-family housing starts slid 13.6 percent from October and 45.7 percent from last year. Building permits last month fared no better: nationwide they were down a total of 15.6 percent for the month and 48.1 percent for the year. Single-family ...
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10.17.08Housing starts take steep fallNew home construction dropped dramatically in September, according to the latest report by the U.S. Commerce Department. Total housing starts, a forward-looking indicator of the housing market, fell 6.3 percent last month. That’s 31 percent below the pace of construction in September 2007 and the lowest reading of the index in 17 years. Economists had predicted a drop of only 1.7 percent. Single-family housing starts took the greatest hit, falling 12 percent from last month and almost 42 percent from last year. In the South, total housing starts rose by 0.5 percent, though they were still 32.5 percent below last year’s numbers. Single-family starts, ...
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08.20.08Repeat: Single-family construction hits 17-year lowThe federal government reported yesterday that home building fell sharply last month, yet another sign that the real estate market is nowhere near a bottom. According to the Census bureau report, total housing starts dropped 11 percent from June’s revised numbers and were 29.6 percent below July 2007. Single-family starts dropped 2.9 percent for a year-over-year slide of 39.2 percent. Building permits, which were buoyed last month by a revision in New York City’s building codes, dropped 17.7 percent, a fall of 32.4 percent from last year. Single-family permits shed 5.2 percent to a level a staggering 41.4 percent under July 2007. Single-family ...