| Indicator | Month | Value | Previous month's value | Year-ago value | Percent change from previous month | Percent change from year-ago month | Notes | ||||||||||
| Building Permits | Jan-08 | 1,048,000 | (p) | 1,080,000 | 1,566,000 | -3.0 | -33.1 | (1) | |||||||||
| Construction Employment | Feb-08 | 7,401 | (p) | 7,440 | 7,623 | -0.5 | -2.9 | (2) | |||||||||
| Construction Equipment Shipments | Jan-08 | 2,032 | (p) | 2,261 | 1,805 | -10.1 | 12.6 | (3) | |||||||||
| Construction Spending | Jan-08 | 1,121.5 | (p) | 1,140.4 | 1,160.2 | -1.7 | -3.3 | (4) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Sales | Jan-08 | 4,890,000 | (p) | 4,910,000 | 6,380,000 | -0.4 | -23.4 | (5) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Inventory | Jan-08 | 4,191,000 | (p) | 3,974,000 | 3,539,000 | 5.5 | 18.4 | (6) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Months' Supply | Jan-08 | 10.3 | (p) | 9.7 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 53.7 | (7) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Average Sales Price | Jan-08 | 247,700 | (p) | 254,000 | 257,300 | -2.5 | -3.7 | (8) | |||||||||
| Existing Single-Family Homes: Median Sales Price | Jan-08 | 201,100 | (p) | 207,000 | 210,900 | -2.9 | -4.6 | (9) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Sales | Jan-08 | 588,000 | (p) | 605,000 | 890,000 | -2.8 | -33.9 | (10) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: For Sale | Jan-08 | 482,000 | (p) | 493,000 | 536,000 | -2.2 | -10.1 | (11) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Months' Supply | Jan-08 | 9.9 | (p) | 9.5 | 7.2 | 4.2 | 37.5 | (12) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Average Sales Price | Jan-08 | 276,600 | (p) | 274,700 | 314,600 | 0.7 | -12.1 | (13) | |||||||||
| New Single-Family Homes: Median Sales Price | Jan-08 | 216,000 | (p) | 225,600 | 254,400 | -4.3 | -15.1 | (14) | |||||||||
| Construction Equipment PPI | Jan-08 | 181.5 | (p) | 180.7 | 178.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | (15) | |||||||||
| Construction Materials and Components PPI | Jan-08 | 194.1 | (p) | 193.0 | 190.3 | 0.6 | 2.0 | (16) | |||||||||
| Lumber PPI | Jan-08 | 162.6 | (p) | 165.9 | 176.9 | -2.0 | -8.1 | (17) | |||||||||
| Housing Starts | Jan-08 | 1,012,000 | (p) | 1,004,000 | 1,403,000 | 0.8 | -27.9 | (18) | |||||||||
| Chart: Monthly Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
| Chart: Annual Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
| US Housing Starts Forecast | |||||||||||||||||
| Top US Housing Markets Report | |||||||||||||||||
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| (p) = preliminary estimate | |||||||||||||||||
| (1) Total privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (2) Construction employment in thousands, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Department of Labor. | |||||||||||||||||
| (3) Millions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (4) Billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (5) Seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (6) Number of homes available for sales. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (7) Number of months' supply of homes on market. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (8) Average sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (9) Median sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department (National Association of Realtors). | |||||||||||||||||
| (10) Seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). | |||||||||||||||||
| (11) Houses for sale at end of period, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (12) Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold, seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (13) Average sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (14) Median sales price in dollars, not seasonally adjusted. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department; HUD. | |||||||||||||||||
| (15) Producer price index for construction machinery and equipment, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (16) Producer price index for construction materials & components, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (17) Producer price index for lumber, not seasonally adjusted, index base year = 1982. Data source: U.S. Labor Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| (18) Total (single- and multi-family) privately owned housing starts, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Data source: U.S. Commerce Department. | |||||||||||||||||
| Monthly Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
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| Annual Housing Starts | |||||||||||||||||
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| US housing starts forecasts | |||||||||||||||||
| Starts in thousands | |||||||||||||||||
| NAHB* | Fannie Mae | National Association of Realtors | Steele Analytics | Year-to-date housing starts* |
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| 2008 housing starts forecast | 989 | 995 | 1,014 | 990 | Jan-08 (p) | 64.5 | |||||||||||
| 2007 housing starts | 1,344 | 1,355 | 1,355 | 1,355 | Jan-07 | 95.0 | |||||||||||
| 2006 housing starts | 1,812 | 1,801 | 1,801 | 1,801 | % ch. | -32.1% | |||||||||||
| Percent change: 2008/2007 | -26.4% | -26.6% | -25.2% | -26.9% | |||||||||||||
| Percent change: 2007/2006 | -25.8% | -24.7% | -24.7% | -24.7% | |||||||||||||
| Percent change: 2006/2005 | 5.3% | 5.7% | 5.7% | 5.7% | |||||||||||||
| * NAHB's annual data are averages of
seasonally adjusted quarterly data and may not match annual figures presented elsewhere. |
* Thousands of starts; not seas. adjusted | ||||||||||||||||
| (p) = prelim. est. | |||||||||||||||||