US home starts beat expectations in February

The US Department of Commerce has released the statistics for home starts and building permits for February.

Thus, the initiation of housing increased 9.8 percent compared to the previous month and reached 1 million 450 thousand in February.

Housing starts, which exceeded market expectations, were projected at 1 million 310 thousand. Housing starts were at the level of 1 million 321 thousand in January.

Home starts fell 18.4 percent on-year in February.

BUILDING PERMITS ALSO EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

Construction permits increased 13.8 percent monthly in February, reaching 1,524,000. In this period, building permits, which were above expectations, were expected to be 1,340,000.

Building permits increased 0.1 percent in January to 1,339,000.

Building permits in the US were down 17.9 percent on-year in February. (AA)