The Census Bureau released data on housing starts for October that left many news reporters confused. The problem is that the two main measures went in opposite directions. Housing starts increased by a modest 3 percent from September levels, led by a 46.5 percent jump in starts in apartment buildings. However, authorizations fell by 6.6 percent continuing their long downward path.
A quick look at the regional breakdown would eliminates the seeming mystery. Starts in the Northeast rose by 8.5 percent, while starts in the Midwest surged by 21.1 percent. Starts in the South fell by 4.6 percent. The West saw a 5.6 percent increase in starts, which was not enough to reverse an 11 percent drop in September.
The story here is that better than usual weather in the Northeast and Midwest allowed for starts to move more smoothly than might ordinarily have been the case. The drop in permits, which are less affected by weather, gives the better picture of the housing market.
btw, the falloffs in starts is striking. The rate for October is down by 40.6 percent from the year-round level in 2005. Starts of single family units are down 48.5 percent from the 2005 level. In the South, starts on single family units are down 51.3 percent and in the West 54.0 percent. And it ain't over yet.
A second Trump administration will cement a right-wing majority on the Supreme Court for a generation, and put our collective future in the hands of someone who will be virtually unchecked by our institutions. The country has shifted rightward, and the reverberations will ensue for potentially the next few decades. In this climate, a robust independent media ecosystem will be more important than ever. We're committed to bringing you the latest news on how Trump's agenda will actually affect the American people, shining a light on the stories corporate media overlooks and keeping the public informed about how power really works in this country.
Quality journalism is expensive to produce, and we don't have corporate backers to rely on to fund what we do. Everything we do is thanks to our incredible community of readers, who chip in a few dollars at a time to make our work possible. Any amount you give today will help us continue reporting on what matters to our democracy.
