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Wintry weather hits US property market with starts and permits falling in February, reports show Friday, March 19, 2010
Severe weather in the US in February led to significant drops in property starts and building permits and the outlook is bleak, according to the latest figures to be published. After starting the year on an upward note, housing starts fell 5.9% in February, returning to the December 2009 rate, according to data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau.
According to the joint report privately owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 575,000 units in February, down 5.9% from January’s revised estimate of 611,000 and only 0.2% above the February 2009 rate of 574,000.
Single family housing starts were at a rate of 499,000, down 0.6% from January’s revised rate of 502,000. The February rate for starts in buildings with five or more units was 58,000.
According to Paul Dales, a US economist at macroeconomic research consultancy Capital Economics, said most of the 5.9% fall in US housing starts can be attributed to the severe winter weather that prevented homebuilders from breaking new ground last month. He warned the outlook for home building remains bleak.
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