Steel Markets
Housing Starts Disappoint in July
Written by Sandy Williams
August 16, 2017
June’s rebound in housing starts was short-lived, according to data from the Department of Commerce on Wednesday. Housing starts dipped in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,155,000, 4.8 percent lower than the June estimate and 5.6 percent below the July 2016 rate.
Construction of single-family homes was relatively steady, slipping just 0.5 percent from last month, while housing of five units or more plummeted 17.1 percent.
“The overall strengthening of the single-family sector is consistent with solid builder confidence in the market,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “The sector should continue to firm as the job market and economy grow and more consumers enter the housing market.”
Lack of available building lots and a shortage of qualified construction workers continue to restrain the single-family sector. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said new home production numbers are still in line with NAHB forecasts. Starts for single-family housing fared much better than multifamily housing in July. “We saw multifamily production peak in 2015, and this sector should continue to level off as demand remains solid,” said Dietz.
The Northeast and Midwest saw the largest slippage of new home starts, sliding 15.7 percent and 15.2 percent, respectively. The South was nearly flat with a gain of 0.6 percent, while starts in the West edged down 1.6 percent.
Permit authorization also fell in July, down 4.1 percent from June, while increasing 4.1 percent from 2016. Single-family housing starts were flat, while multi-unit starts dropped 12.1 percent.
Regionally, permit authorizations plunged 17.4 percent in the Midwest, 7.9 percent in the West and 1.4 percent in the South. The Northeast was the only region to make gains in July, jumping 19.2 percent on strength of multi-unit dwellings.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
Latin America’s steel industry grapples with declining demand, rising imports
With climbing imports and falling consumption, the Latin American steel industry has had a challenging 2024, according to an Alacero report.
CRU: Trump tariffs could stimulate steel demand
Now that the dust has settled from the US election, as have the immediate reactions in the equity, bond, and commodity markets, this is a prime opportunity to look at how a second Trump presidency might affect the US steel market.
HVAC shipments slip in September but are still trending higher
Following a strong August, total heating and cooling equipment shipments eased in September to a five-month low, according to the latest data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
GrafTech Q3 loss widens as electrode demand remains soft
GrafTech International’s third-quarter net loss increased from last year, with the company anticipating continuing weakness in near-term demand for graphite electrodes.
Cliffs forecasts 2025 rebound after Q3’s weakest demand since Covid
The negative impact of high interest rates on consumer behavior, particularly in the automotive and housing sectors, was the primary driver of the demand weakness seen across the third quarter, according to Cleveland-Cliffs executives.