CORRECTED: US home building up in June but permits decline

18 July 2007 21:13 [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “US home building up in June but permits decline” dated 18 July, 2007, please read in the third paragraph …An estimated 1.41m building permits were issued across the country in June … instead of … in May.… A corrected story follows.

US housing starts post 2.3% rise MUMBAI (ICIS news)--US new home construction rose 2.3% in June compared with a fall of 2.1% in May, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, but a decline in building permits suggests the housing downturn may continue.

The department said privately owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.47m units, 2.3% above the revised May estimate of 1.43m but 19.4% below the revised June 2006 rate of 1.82m homes under construction.

An estimated 1.41m building permits were issued across the country in June on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, 7.5% below the revised May rate.

June building permits are still nearly 25% below the rate seen in June last year when about 1.88m permits were filed, suggesting the sector still has a long way to go before it recovers.

The housing market is a key downstream consumer sector for the chemicals industry, driving demand for a wide variety of chemicals and chemicals-based products such as plastic pipes, insulation, paints and coatings, adhesives and synthetic fibres.

Building permits are filed with local governments by contractors when they are ready to begin work and consequently are seen as a good near-term indicator of sector activity.

US housing starts, June '07

June’07

May’07

May-June ‘07

June ‘06

June ’06 to June ‘07

US housing starts

1.467m*

1.434m*

2.3%

1.819m*

-19.4

*seasonally adjusted and annualised

By: Isha Jha
+65 6780 4359

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