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    Analysis

    March 20, 2022

    NAHB: February Housing Starts Accelerate

    Written by David Schollaert

    Housing starts grew in February, boosted by a strong multifamily reading and despite production bottlenecks as well as rising construction costs. Strong demand and low levels of existing inventory aided last month’s results, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    Overall housing starts increased 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.77 million units. The February reading – indicating the number of housing units builders would begin if development kept this pace for the next 12 months – was driven by a 9.3% gain in the multifamily sector to an annualized 554,000 pace. The single-family starts increased 5.7% to a 1.22 million seasonally adjusted annual rate.

    David Schollaert

    David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

    Read more from David Schollaert

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