Homebuilders Active Amid Slump in New Starts as Traders Look Ahead to Spring (XHB)

SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) and names like Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) are up following what would appear to negative housing data.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for March 2014:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 990,000. This is 2.4 percent (±1.0%) below the revised February rate of 1,014,000, but is 11.2 percent (±1.1%) above the March 2013 estimate of 890,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 592,000; this is 0.5 percent (±1.0%)* above the revised February figure of 589,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370,000 in March.

*** The Street was looking for a gain to 1.003 million.

HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000. This is 2.8 percent (±14.7%)* above the revised February estimate of 920,000, but is 5.9 percent (±8.4%)* below the March 2013 rate of 1,005,000. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 635,000; this is 6.0 percent (±15.5%)* above the revised February figure of 599,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 292,000.

*** Consensus estimates expected a reading of 955,000.

HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000. This is 0.2 percent (±13.2%)* below the revised February estimate of 874,000, but is 7.7 percent (±14.3%)* above the March 2013 rate of 810,000. Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 602,000; this is 3.8 percent (±12.6%)* below the revised February rate of 626,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 258,000.

New housing starts may have been stifled by near record-cold temps last month in some parts of the country. The year-over-year gain in building permits, however, suggests that construction demand is still in place.

Below is the Census Bureau release with data tables on last month's numbers:

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