Homes Data Gets a Lift, By a Fluke

New York Times (07/18/08) P. C7; Grynbaum, Michael M.
Builders hurrying to obtain permits and break ground on multifamily units before New York City's new building codes took effect on July 1 bolstered the Commerce Department's June new-homes data, which indicated a 9.1-percent monthly jump in housing starts to an annual pace of 1.066 million and an 11.6-percent surge in permits to an annual pace of 1.091 million. Geographically, the report showed that permits and housing starts in the Northeast soared 73 percent and 103 percent, respectively, while permits moved up only 3 percent in the South and 0.9 percent in the West; while the Midwest reported a small decline in permits. Without the New York City impact, housing starts fell 5.3 percent nationally and permits rose 0.7 percent. Year-over-year, housing starts and permits plunged 27 percent and 24 percent, respectively.