Jan housing starts +18.6% to 1.230m SAAR,...>

US DATA: Jan housing starts +18.6% to 1.230m SAAR, well ahead of the 

1.190m rate expected by the Bloomberg consensus and the 1.178m rate 

expected by an MNI survey. This followed downward revisions to the 

previous two months that maintained the sharp Dec drop.

- The pace of starts is still below the year ago rate, confirming a 

gradual slowdown in home building over the last year.

- Starts were up in the Northest, South, and West, but fell in the MW.

- Building permits +1.4% to 1.345m SAAR. The BBG survey had expected a 

1.289m pace, while the MNI survey centered on a 1.288m rate. While a 

positive factor for future starts, the pace was down from a year ago.