It seems once again that 'economists' and 'analysts' misunderstood the weather in winter is cold. Housing Starts dropped a stunning 16% MoM (from an upwardly revised December data) for the biggest miss since June 2013 (and 8 of last 10 months missed expectations). This is the biggest MoM drop in 3 years. Building Permits - more problematic for the weather blamers - also plunged (by 5.4%) missing expectations by the most since June. However, what is the biggest slap in the face for the 'weather-blamers' is the collapse in Permits for the West (-26%) while most other regions improved.
Permits missed by most since June back to mid-2013 levels...
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Permits on a non-seasonally adjusted basis are cratering, and barely above January 2013 levels.
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Starts plunged - missing 8 of the last 10 months..
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Starts for single family houses: SA vs NSA - disaster.
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Housing Starts dropped 16% MoM - the 3rd most in 20 years
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