Housing starts plunge a record 30 percent

Housing starts fell 30.2%, Permits 20.8%, and completions 8.1% due to Covid-19.

The Residential Construction Report stats record the the greatest month-over-month decline in the history of the stats. The housing data dates to 1959.

Starts vs Econoday Consensus

• Starts: 0.891 Million Seasonally Adjusted Annualized
• Consensus Starts: 0.968 Million

Permits vs Econoday Consensus

• Permits: 1.074 Million Seasonally Adjusted Annualized
• Consensus Permits: 1.033 Million

Housing Starts, Permits, Completions Month-Over-Month Comparisons

A data download from Fred shows the next biggest month-over-month declines were 26.4% in March of 1984, and 26.2% in March of 1960.

The Econoday consensus was 

Housing Starts, Permits, Completions Year-Over-Year Comparisons

Year-Over-Year declines are not as large as in the Great Recession.

A data download from Fred shows the next biggest year-over-year declines were 54.8% in January of 2009, 52.8% in April of 2009, and 50.6% May of 1980. iand 26.2% in March of 1960.

Mish