U.S. Housing Starts Decreased in September; Building Permits Fell Sharply
October 19 2021 - 9:15AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Construction of new homes in the U.S. decreased in September
after rising the previous month, according to data from the
Commerce Department released Tuesday. Here are the main takeaways
from the report:
--Housing starts, a measure of U.S. homebuilding, decreased 1.6%
in September compared with August, to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 1.555 million. The reading is below the consensus forecast
from The Wall Street Journal poll of economists, who expected
starts to fall 0.3% to an annual pace of 1.61 million.
--The current level of starts is up 7.4% compared with the same
month a year earlier.
--In August, housing starts were downwardly revised to 1.580
million from an earlier estimate of 1.615 million.
--Monthly housing starts data are volatile and are often
revised. Data for September came with a margin of error of 11.4
percentage points.
--Residential permits, which can be a bellwether for future home
construction, fell by a sharp 7.7% in September on month, to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.589 million. The figure
compares with economists' forecasts of a 3.4% decline to an annual
pace of 1.67 million.
--U.S. housing starts report for September compares with
October's indicator compiled by the National Association of Home
Builders, which showed confidence in the single-family housing
market increasing to strong levels.
--Housing demand remains robust amid low mortgage rates but
affordability challenges are growing due to the rise of material
prices and shortages, which are pushing up home prices and
construction costs.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2021 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)
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