Housing Continues Its Descent

Excerpt from our One Page Annotated Wall Street Journal Summary (receive it by email every morning by signing up here):

New-Home Starts Sink As Sales Slow, Inventories Rise

• Summary: The Commerce Department reported that housings starts declined in August, marking the fifth decline in the past six months. Single family home starts declined 5.9% from July, and 20.6% from last August. Multifamily home starts also dropped 8.2% and 16.9%, respectively. Overall, August construction starts were down 6% from July and 19.8% from August 2005. Additionally, the Commerce Department reported that building permits were also down 2.3% from July and 21.9% from the same period last year. According to Wachovia economic analyst Phillip Neuhart, reduced new home construction will probably reduce 2006 second-half economic growth by at least 0.5%.
• Links to related articles on Seeking Alpha: Housing Weakness Poses a Significant Threat to GDP and Stocks ♦ Homebuilders Index Plummets to 15-Year Low ♦ Chicago Fed: Housing Bubble Was Driven by 'Wealth Creation Technology' ♦ Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker

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