Article source: ConstructConnect
U.S. Permits Still Setting the Pace for Starts
The average of seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR) housing starts in the U.S. through the first two months of 2022 has been 1.713 million units, +11.5% versus January-to-February of 2021.
Canada’s comparable 2022 performance has been 238,200 units, -18.2% on a year-to-date basis versus 2021’s same time frame.
The U.S. in February of this current year managed its highest monthly number (SAAR), at 1.769 million units, since before the 2008-2009 recession. Canada, in its monthly readings so far in 2022, has yet to come close to the 300,000-unit level it busted beyond on three occasions in 2021.
Graph 4 suggests ongoing good news for U.S. housing starts. Residential building ‘permits’, which often lead starts, are near 1.9 million units.
Graph 5, however, which also deals with permits, is not as bullish. Graph 5 shows the 12-month moving total of the difference between permits and starts, using ‘actual’ rather than SAAR numbers.
