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Contractor Update

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October Housing Starts Tumble

Saturday, November 18, 2006

The Census Bureau has released the new home numbers, "Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,535,000. This is 28.0 percent (±1.2%) below the October 2005 estimate of 2,131,000. Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 1,173,000; this is 3.8 percent (±1.3%) below the September figure."

"Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,486,000. This is 14.6 percent (±7.6%) below the revised September estimate of 1,740,000 and is 27.4 percent (±5.3%) below the October 2005 rate of 2,046,000."

"Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 1,177,000; this is 15.9 percent (±7.4%) below the September figure of 1,400,000."

From Reuters: "Many economists had thought the worst of the housing slump had already passed, and data released earlier this week seemed to support that idea, but Friday's data cast doubt on that view. "The raw number (housing starts) looks incredibly weak,' said econimst Robert McIntosh."

"Permits for future groundbreaking, an indicator of builder confidence, fell 6.3 percent to an annual pace of 1.535 million units, the lowest rate since December 1997, from a 1.638 million pace in September. Permit applications were down 28 percent from October 2005."


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posted by ConstructionDeal.com, 10:38 AM

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