By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Results from Thursday’s residential construction report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were mixed. Construction permits made a strong showing while housing starts were down, continuing the see-saw pattern that has persisted for months. The Western region was markedly weak across all three of the report’s areas.
Construction permits were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,285,000, up 4.6 percent from the December rate of 1,228,000. The latter number was a revision from the 1,210,000 units previously announced. On a year-over-year basis permitting posted an 8.2 percent increase over the previous January’s pace of 1,188,000.
The results bested estimates of analysts polled by Econoday who were looking for permits in the range of 1,220,000 to 1,250,000 units. The consensus was 1,233,000.
