MarketWatch reports:
Construction on new homes fell 14 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1.01 million, the slowest monthly building pace in more
than 16 years, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Housing
starts for single-family homes in the West fell 16 percent to the lowest level
since the data were first collected in 1959. ... Building permits fell 8 percent in December to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million, the lowest since May 1993. For
all of 2007, housing starts fell 25 percent to 1.35 million, the lowest annual
total since 1993.
This has obvious local implications. Housing starts affect retail employees, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, building inspectors and taxable income for local governments. (See my
previous post.)
Building permits are an indicator of what is to come.
