WASHINGTON — U.S. home construction starts were up 3 percent in October, the biggest monthly gain in eight months, but building permits were down 6.6 percent to a level not seen in 14 years, a government report on Tuesday showed.
The Commerce Department said housing starts set at an annual pace of 1.229 million units in October from a 1.193 million unit pace in September.
It was the biggest monthly increase since February and came after starts tumbled 11.4 percent the prior month. Economists were expecting to see a slight decrease in starts to a 1.17 million unit pace from the initially reported 1.191 million pace in September.
“It’s not the greatest picture that an uptick suggests,” said Lindsey Piegza, market analyst at FTN Financial in New York.
Building permits fell 6.6 percent in October to a 1.178 million unit pace. That was the lowest level since July 1993 and well below the 1.200 million unit level economists were expecting.
“The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program” -Ronald Reagan
Replies
Too bad this didn't get in the business folder.
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Guess it did!!!"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
If I read that right the permits for those starts probably were pulled or applied for a few months back.
So the key may not be the number of starts , but rather the drop in permit applications as that speaks to what is coming .
Why you steppin on rez's turf?
That's his gig. Doom & gloom
(G)
where do you get the "doom and gloom"??? did you read the article? This is not the stuff coming out of the papers and TV. It's nowhere near as bad. I make a living investing money for clients, (22 years), and I have a collection of newspaper articles predicting exactly the wrong thing. You can't imagine how dumb most of these "journalists" are. It's sort of likethe DIYers who never do get it right."The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
So we are supposed to get excited about a 3% rise in month to month starts when the year to year is -16.4%
Multi family carried October
http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf
I really don't have a clue what YOU get excited about! If you even have a hint about the economy, you might know that a 3% move in anything can be very important, or very ho-hum, depending upon what it is reflecting. As for your excitement, why dont you tell US what you DO get excited about!!??"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
I get excited when cheerleader Stephen Kim downgrades his near term outlook on the homebuilders :)
Seriously, since I obviously don't understand economic matters explain why you feel that it is not that bad.
Okay, fair enough.
In view of all the negativity that comes out of the media daily, it's interesting that the facts do not support the media's gloom and doom. A 3 % move is moderately significant in this case, not a bombshell to be sure. But it refutes the perpetual negative drum beat by a bunch of journalists who probably never even took an economics course. One data point does not make a line...but taken in context with previous months, it puts things into proper perspective. BTW, anyone notice that Christmas sales on "black Friday" were a lot stronger than the brilliant media "experts" predicted? I'm guessing that most of us have missed this fact as it does not support the negative view spewed out daily from the TV and newspapers."The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
I've heard that Christmas sales are sometimes up when the ecomomy is down. People go out shopping to get out of their day to day duldroms.
I have no facts to back this up. I heard it once. I could make sense.
I do know that people buy stuff they don't need with money they don't have all the time. And if you grew up in a culture where this is the norm you don't see it for what it is.
Edited 11/27/2007 7:03 pm ET by popawheelie
FYI:
***************
Black Friday was a resounding success for retailers — if you count heads, not dollars.
Figures from the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported Monday showed that 147 million shoppers hit the malls and shopping centers on Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.
The number of shoppers was up 4.8 percent from last year, according to NRF research. However, early numbers showed spending down 3.5 percent on average, to just over $347 per shopper.
Nevertheless, spending was up 14.8 percent from 2005, the NRF said. The trade group continues to project that holiday sales will rise 4 percent this year to $474.5 billion.
"While last year showed a greater emphasis on high-definition televisions, this year consumers were focused on lower priced doorbusters like digital photo frames, laptops and cashmere sweaters," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin."The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
No worries untreated
rez posted the articles for a couple of months. They just happened to be the "bad" months.
It was a shot at rez (sorta)
I don't especially follow the articles. All RE is local. So I try to stay in touch with our local markets
Good news, this makes Farming look profitable!