Highlights
Housing appears to be oscillating upward as starts rebounded 1.5 percent in January after a 1.9 dip the month before. January's 0.699 million unit pace topped expectations for 0.675 million and is up 9.9 percent on a year-ago basis. For the latest month, the rebound was led by the multifamily component.

By region, the gain in starts was led by an 18.3 percent boost in the South with the West rising 11.9 percent and the Northeast rebounding 7.9 percent. The Midwest saw a 40.7 percent drop.

Housing permits also are oscillating slowly upward with a 0.7 percent rise, following a 1.3 percent dip in December. The latest number of 0.676 million units was a little under the consensus projection of 0.684 million.

While the latest numbers are positive, it should be remembered that seasonal factors are strong this time of year and it is difficult to know the true trend a given month.

On the news, equity futures rose with help also coming from a significant decline in initial jobless claims.

Market Consensus before announcement
Housing starts in December declined 4.1 percent, after surging 9.1 percent in November. December's annualized pace of 0.657 million was up 24.9 percent on a year-ago basis. The dip in the latest month was led by a 20.4 percent drop in the multifamily component, following a 23.0 percent boost in November. The single-family component advanced 4.4 percent after rising 3.0 percent the month before. A key caveat on interpreting monthly swings is that seasonal factors are large this time of year and small unadjusted changes can lead to hefty seasonally adjusted changes. Permits were encouraging, nudging down a mere 0.1 percent, following a 5.6 percent advance in November. The December rate of 0.679 million units annualized was up 7.8 percent on a year-ago basis.

2012 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/19 2/16 3/20 4/17 5/16 6/19 7/18 8/16 9/19 10/17 11/20 12/19 Release For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov