|Housing starts rise again
(Jul. 17) Housing starts are on a roll, sort of. Up 14.4% for single family homes. Government statistics released Friday morning show total starts in June increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000.
The 582,000 estimate is a 3.6% increase over the revised May figure of 562,000. Still, total starts are down 46% from the June 2008 figure of 1.078 million.
Single-family housing starts in June also showed a much-welcome double-digit surge of 14.4% to a SAAR of 470,000. The upwardly revised figure from last month was 411,000. June marked the fourth straight month of single-family increases. Single-family starts are down 28.2%, however, from June 2008.
On a regional basis, single-family starts showed growth in all four geographic regions. The total starts showed a month-to-month increase in the Northeast of 28.6%.
The forward-looking indicator of building permits came in at a rate of 563,000, an increase of 8.7% over the May rate.