The Census Bureau [1] and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [2] will release the latest housing starts data on Friday, April 19 at 8:30 a.m EST.
The report provides national and regional data on the number of new housing units authorized by building permits; authorized, but not started; started; under construction; and completed. Changes in the rate of housing starts in this report also point to the rising or falling demand for homes and provide a near- and long-term outlook for the construction industry.
According to the March report, housing starts declined in February despite a strong showing in the previous month. The report indicated that housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million, decreasing 8.7 percent month-over-month and 9.9 percent on an annual basis. Single-family housing starts also weakened decreasing 17 percent to 805,000 in February compared with 970,000 in the prior month.
"A spike in mortgage rates in early November undermined buyer purchasing power and caused a dip in builder confidence that has started to recover but has yet to reach its October level, before the surge in mortgage rates," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist, realtor.com [3]. "Thus, we may see a few more months of up and down single-family starts before increasing confidence leads to increased production."
Here's what else is happening in the week ahead:
- Bank Earnings: CitiGroup, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, Monday, 8 a.m. EST
- NAHB Housing Market Index, Tuesday, 10 a.m. EST
- MBA Mortgage Apps, Wednesday, 7 a.m. EST
- Fed Beige Book, Wednesday, 2 p.m. EST
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Thursday 10 a.m. EST
- CoreLogic LoanSafe Training Webinars, Thursday, 2 p.m. EST