HEADLINES FOR HOUSING STARTS
*U.S. Feb Housing Starts +2.8%
*U.S. Feb Starts Rate To 1.769 Mln, Highest Since Dec 1998
*U.S. Feb Housing Permits +1.8% To 1.752-Mln-Unit Rate
*U.S. Feb Single-Family Starts +7.4%; Jan Revised To +3.4%
*U.S. Feb S/F Starts Rate 1.457 Mln, Highest Since Dec 1978
*U.S. Jan Housing Starts Revised To +7.4% From +3.4%
*U.S. Jan Starts Rate Revised To 1.721 Mln From 1.678 Mln
Washington, March 20 (OsterDowJones) Ground-breaking on new homes in February rose 2.8%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Starts unexpectedly remained strong at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.769 million units, the highest rate since December 1998. Building permits, an indicator of future housing activity, rose 1.8%, to an annual rate of 1.752 million.
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Analysts had expected starts at 1.630 million, down from January's revised 1.721 million and permits at 1.621 million, above the revised 1.721 million of the prior month.
SINGLE- AND MULTI-FAMILY STARTS
February single-family starts were up 7.4% to a rate of 1.457 million units. February's rate was highest since December 1978. Multi-family starts, which often swing sharply from month to month, decreased 12.0% to 264,000 units.
REGIONAL ACTIVITY
The West led the way in starts, jumping 14.0% in February. The South and Midwest rose 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, while the North dropped 9.3%.
OTHER DETAILS
In February, not seasonally adjusted starts totaled 119,500 units, up 10.4% from a year ago. Building permits totaled 119,200 in February on an unadjusted basis, up 6.6% from a year ago.
From January to February this year, starts totaled 229,500 units, up 6.9% from the comparable 2001 period.
WHAT WAS EXPECTED:
Estimates for February housing starts ranged from 1.550 million to 1.720 million, according to a OsterDowJones survey. Estimates for building permits ranged from 1.575 million to 1.700 million.