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
Construction spending drops marginally in January
Construction spending edged down slightly in January, slipping for the first time in four months. The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,196 billion in January, down 0.2% from December’s downward revised rate. The January figure is 3.3% higher than a year ago. January’s result, despite the slight erosion, […]
HVAC equipment shipments slow in December but strong annually
Shipments of heating and cooling equipment in the US fell to an 11-month low in December, according to the latest data released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
Apparent steel supply rebounds in December, but 2024 total at 4-year low
Apparent US steel supply rebounded in December, but 2024 was still the lowest level for supply since 2020.
Trump officially orders sweeping 25% tariff on steel, aluminum
The new version of Section 232 goes into effect on 12:01 am ET on March 12, according to the executive order. The latest iteration of Section 232 removed quotas, exemptions, and other carve outs that had accumulated over years.
Tampa Steel Conference: Two weeks to go!
With just two weeks to go, we have over 400 registered so far for the 36th annual Tampa Steel Conference. Join us and hundreds of industry executives at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street from Sunday, February 2, through Tuesday, February 4.