Housing starts fall to record-low level in October – MarketWatch
by Tom on November 19, 2008
in Market Musings, house prices
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. home builders reduced their starts of new homes by 4.5% in October, driving new construction to the lowest level since just after World War II, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday.
Housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 791,000 in October, the slowest pace since similar records were first kept during the housing boom in the late 1940s.
Housing starts have now fallen 38% in the past year and are down about 70% from the peak in early 2006.
Building permits, which are typically less volatile than the starts data, fell 12% to a record-low seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000 in October, down 40% in the past year. Building permits for single-family homes, considered by many analysts as the most important number in the report, fell 14.5% to a 460,000 pace, the slowest in 26 years.
Housing starts fall to record-low level in October – MarketWatch.
Okay, a closer look at these numbers:
- Housing Starts are down 4.5% to the slowest pace since the WWII housing boom in the late 40’s.
- Starts are now down 70% since early 2006.
- Building permits fell 14.5% for single family homes, the lowest since I was a junior in high school.
These numbers reinforce a couple of things:
- The housing market continues to adjust to the new realities of today’s market.
- The pain isn’t done.
- The economy is in an ugly mood right now.
What do you think?
