MNI DATA ANALYSIS:US December Starts Pace Falls To 1.078m SAAR>

--December Building Permits Rise 0.3% To 1.326m SAAR

By Harrison Clarke and Shikha Dave

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The pace of housing starts fell by 11.2% to a 

1.078 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, below 

expectations for a 1.250 million rate according to an MNI survey of 

analysts and the Bloomberg consensus, data reported by the Commerce 

Department Tuesday morning indicated. 

     Housing starts were flat in the Northeast, down by 26.3% in the 

West, down by 13.2% in the Midwest, and down by 6.0% in the South. 

     Housing starts of single-family homes fell by 6.7% in December 

after a 5.9% decrease in the previous month, while multi-family starts 

fell by 20.4% in December, based on an MNI calculation. This followed a 

16.2% gain in the previous month. 

--BUILDING PERMITS RISE SLIGHTLY

     Building permits rose by 0.3% in the month to a 1.326 million rate 

after 4.5% rise to 1.322 million in November. 

     This gain was driven by multi-family permits, and was slightly 

offset by a decline in single-family permits. Homes permitted but not 

started rose by 6.9% in December. 

     The December starts average was below the 1.167 million fourth 

quarter average after all revisions were included. The December permits 

pace was above the 1.304 million fourth quarter average. Homes under 

construction rose by 0.3%, but completions were down 2.7%. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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