MBA: Mortgage Purchase Application activity decreases + Housing Starts decrease sharply in Feb + Multi-Family Housing Starts and Completions

[mEDITate-OR:
thing that "housing starts" means that things are really picking up....
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Below, we noted the decline in TBill yields & next weeks mortg rates.
However, these charts from CR show U.S. that mort apps went down, again.
And, while CR does now separate 1units from mutli, what the 2nd chart does not show U.S. as well as it might is the 46% drop in multis this month. Huge drop.
That does appear better in the 3rd chart.
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The 4th chart shows both starts & completions for Multis.
While completions trail starts, note that starts have recently been increasing, but that does not appear yet in completions.
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MBA: Mortgage Purchase Application activity decreases
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/03/mba-mortgage-purchase-application_16.html
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Housing Starts decrease sharply in February
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/03/housing-starts-decrease-sharply-in.html
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Multi-Family Housing Starts and Completions
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/03/multi-family-housing-starts-and.html
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Treasury bond yields plunge again as investors seek havens

[mEDITate-OR:
think that the drop in 10yr TBill yields are only caused by Japan's catastrophe.
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What we have been seeing is a slight reversal of bond yield increases
and, therefore, lower home mortgage rates.
That is now in free fall, due to the tsunami.damage in Japan.
Where we will be when this settles down, no body knows.
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Treasury bond yields plunge again as investors seek havens
atimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/03/treasury-bond-yields-rates-fall-japan-nuclear-meltdown.html
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Housing Starts and Permits Stall in Feb + approach record low = slump 22.5% + steepest monthly tumble in nearly 27 years in Feb

[mEDITate-OR:
start thinking that the end is near...
but, then see that starts are stopping, even more, than before...
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The first three charts take very different views of the same stunning drop in new housing starts.
As the headlines say, the drop is extreme, even by our dismal recent past records.
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However, once again, "national numbers" only tell U.S. part of the story:
While single-family starts declined 11.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 375,000 units
multifamily starts – which tend to display greater volatility on a month-to-month basis – declined 46.1 percent to a rate of 104,000 units.
Regional declines amounted to:
37.5 percent in the Northeast
48.6 percent in the Midwest
6.3 percent in the South and
28 percent in the West
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If you are interested in a thorough explanation, the 3rd article is one.
They point out Bill@CRs charts showing U.S. vacancy rates
Two things to note:
first, fewer people are being evicted by foreclosures right now
second, more people who have been evicted are renting apartments.
The first probably will climb back up, and therefore, so will the second.
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U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back Near Record Low In February
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/AllEconomicNews.aspx?Id=1577010&SM=1
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US home construction in steepest monthly tumble in nearly 27 years in February
http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1021866.shtml
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Housing Starts Plunge, Again
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/49138/Housing+Starts+Plunge,+Again
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