Byline:
Matt Phair, HousingZone Contributing
A preview of January U.S. housing activity released today by Reuters news service predicts the median forecast for housing starts to rise to an annual rate of 580,000 units in January after having fallen to 557,000 units in December. The median forecast for building permits is to slip to 620,000 units in January after having risen to 653,000 units in December.
Factors that influenced January activities include:
- Unusually cold weather, which caused a drop in groundbreaking activity in December.
- December building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, jumped to their highest level in 14 months. This suggests that housing starts likely rebounded in January.
- Building permits are expected to have dropped in January, as the government-driven recovery shows signs of exhaustion.
- Housing starts are below the pace of new home sales, while the inventory of houses under construction dropped to a record low in December.
Groundbreaking activity is expected to maintain a moderate upward trend. The forecast confirmation will be released Feb. 17 at 8:30 am EST.
