Starts slip, but permits pick up the pace

After an exciting surge in housing starts for April, May’s numbers came back down to earth – to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000.

May’s figure is down 11.1% from the upwardly revised April rate of 1,165,000. It’s also up 5.1% from the some month last year.

The good news for the hardware and building supply industry from Tuesday morning’s Residential Construction report came in the measure building permits, which recorded the highest pace since January of 2007. Permits for May were at a rate of 1,275,000, up 11.8% from the April rate, and up 25.4% compared to the May 2014 estimate.

Forecasters had generally expected a decline in total housing starts for May, due to the weather-related issues that pushed February and March forward into April.

Single-family housing starts came in at a rate of 680,000, down 5.4% from April, but up 6.8% from May of last year.

Regionally, stats varied widely and moved significantly. The Northeast had a 58% year-over-year gain, but a 26.5% month-to-month drop. The West was down 12.5% for the month, but up 32.5% for the year.