Posted To: MND NewsWire
Residential construction data released this morning showed both housing starts and permits holding fairly steady in May compared to April, but while starts were running well above last year, permits were down substantially. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the year-over-year decline in permits issued was 10.1 percent. Permits were issued in May at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,138,000, up 0.7 percent from the upwardly revised (from 1,116,000) April rate of 1,130,000. Permits had been issued a year earlier at an annual rate of 1,266,000. Analysts surveyed by Econoday were expecting permitting to be at an annual rate of 1,140,000 units. Single-family permits were issued at a rate of 726,000, down 2.0 percent from the April figure of 741,000….(read more )