Housing starts are up big year over year, but down in February. Then again, building permits are way up, which is a leading indicator for the next read. Should the bears go back into hibernation?
While it’s clear February Housing Starts are not “important” enough by themselves to bring the jury in on the U.S. economic recovery, it is yet another piece of the puzzle which shows that things are getting better. Yes, the February number was down 1.1% (expectations were for this number to be +1%), but year over year starts are up 35%!
Seasonally adjusted, annualized Building Permits are up 5.1% to 717K, but this is obviously off an extremely low base. Housing Starts are up 17.7% since the bottom, which was Q1 2011.
The volatile and less-than-extreme-growth-pointing multi-family homes were a big part of these gains. Single-family homes were actually down in the month of February. Then again, the permits may be indicating strength in the single-family market, as well.
So the question: is this yet another nail in the door to the bear cave? Why or why not?
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