| Permits and Starts for November at Historic Lows |
| Written by Jonathan Smoke | |
| 12.16.2008 | |
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Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts) The Commerce Department released preliminary new residential construction data for November today, and the report set new lows for permits and starts. Total building permits in November were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000, which was 15.6% below the revised October rate of 730,000 and 48.1% below the revised November 2007 estimate of 1,187,000. This was a new record low. Single unit permits in November were at a rate of 412,000, which is 12.3% below the October figure of 470,000. This was not a new low—the record low is 401,000, which was set in October 1981. We should beat that low in December. The chart below shows the history of this permit data series, which goes back to 1960. Total housing starts in November were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000 units, which was 18.9% below the revised October estimate of 771,000 and 47% below the revised November 2007 rate of 1,179,000. Single-family housing starts in November were reported at a rate of 441,000 units, which was 16.9% below the October figure of 531,000. This was a new record low. We will get November new home sales data next Tuesday. As I shared last month, I expect the data for November and December to reflect the end of the worst year on record for the new home business. Perhaps it’s appropriate that we get this stark data at this time of year to remind us all that there is more to life than business. 
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