US Housing Plunges to Record Lows

US Housing Starts fell to their lowest level on record since the census bureau started keeping records in 1959. From the Cesus Bureau:

Building Permits:

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000. This is 15.6 percent below the revised October rate of 730,000 and is 48.1 percent below the revised November 2007 estimate of 1,187,000.


Housing Starts:

Privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000. This is 18.9 percent below the revised October estimate of 771,000 and is 47.0 percent below the revised November 2007 rate of 1,179,000.

Completions:

Privately-owned housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,084,000. This is 3.3 percent above the revised October estimate of 1,049,000, but is 22.8 percent below the revised November 2007 rate of 1,404,000.

So once again the bottom-callers were disappointed but they are getting closer to being right. The low level of starts implies that excess inventory is being worked off. Making a dent in the sizeable amount of inventory is key to seeing a turnaround in starts. We may see a bottom in starts sometime in late 2009 but don't expect a V shaped recovery.