The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics
Volume 18, Issue 1, Article 4 (Abstract)
Title:	Where, When, and by How Much Does Abnormal Weather Affect Housing Construction?
Author:	James T. Fergus
Abstract:	This article investigates whether departures from normal in precipitation or temperature have a significant contemporaneous effect on housing starts in each month of the year for the nation as a whole and in each of the four Census regions. It also evaluates the extent to which these immediate effects are reversed in later months. The results indicate that atypical weather has statistically significant effects on the change in housing starts which are concentrated in the months of the first quarter, and that the magnitude of these effects is quite substantial. However, such effects also are found in some other months as well. Significant lagged effects are found that tend to offset the contemporaneous effects of weather deviations.
Keywords:	weather, housing starts, home construction, housing supply, construction cost