US February housing starts 1.501M vs 1.380M estimate.

March 18, 2025 at 12:30PM

Prior month 1.366M revised to 1.350M

Housing starts vs 1.501m vs 1.380M estimate.

Prior month building permits 1.483M

Building permits 1.456M vs 1.453M estimate

Details from the US Census

Building Permits:

Total: 1.456 million (↓ 1.2% from January, ↓ 6.8% from Feb 2024)

Single-family: 992,000 (↓ 0.2% from January)

Multi-family (5+ units): 404,000

Housing Starts:

Total: 1.501 million (↑ 11.2% from January, ↓ 2.9% from Feb 2024)

Single-family: 1.108 million (↑ 11.4% from January)

Multi-family (5+ units): 370,000

Housing Completions:

Total: 1.592 million (↓ 4.0% from January, ↓ 6.2% from Feb 2024)

Single-family: 1.066 million (↑ 7.1% from January)

Multi-family (5+ units): 512,000

In other US data,

Import prices for February rose 0.4% versus -0.1% estimate. Prior month rose by 0.4%

export prices rose 0.1% versus -0.2% estimate. Last month export prices rose 1.3%

Import prices year on year are up 2.0% versus 1.6% expected

As the US situation unfolds, import prices will be eyed more closely.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.