Housing Permits Grow 17.4% in December

There were 99,800 housing permits filed in December 2015. This was the most housing permits filed since July 2015, but it was still below the historical average. Comapred with one year ago housing permits were increased 17.4 percent in December. This was the second month in a row that housing permits increased more than 17 percent and was one of the fastest rates of growth in the last two years. The annual rate of growth increased for the second month in a row. And, the current rate of annual growth of 11.5 percent is the fastest since April 2014.

The real 10-year treasury rate has been rising compared with one year ago for a number of months now. This indicates that housing permits should be near their peak rate of annual growth. Changes in the interest rate lead changes in housing permits and construction spending by about 12 months on average.

We use housing permits as an early leading indicator for the following industries: appliances; custom processors; furniture; hardware; HVAC; off-road/construction machinery; petrochemical processors; plastics; plastic/rubber products; pumps/valves/plumbing products; textiles/clothing/leather goods; and wood/paper products.