From the course: Economic Indicators

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Building permits

Building permits

From the course: Economic Indicators

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Building permits

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- People say it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission. But I can tell you one area where this isn't true. Building a house. You need permission to build a home. And even before you start building your dream home, means you have to file some paperwork. The process begins with the building permit. And since this is where the whole housing party starts, building permits are a key leading indicator of new home sales and how construction contributes to economic growth. Building permits are the most upstream economic indicator for housing that exists in the United States. In fact, they give the earliest glimpse into what's likely to happen to housing activity in the economy. Building permits are a measure of privately owned housing units that are authorized by building permits. And because this is for private housing, it's just homes. Building permits are released in the same report with housing starts, and permits are usually higher than starts. After all, not everybody…

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