The U.S. government is [finally]reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of f 1,078,000. This is 11.2% below November’s revised estimate of 1,214,000 and is 10.9% below December, 2017. Single‐family housing starts in December were at a rate of 758k, which is 6.7% below November’s revised figure of 812k. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 302k. There were an estimated 1,246,600 housing units were started in 2018 which is 3.6% more than in 2017. Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,326,000, which is 0.3% higher than November’s revised rate of 1,322,000 and is 0.5% higher than December 2017. Single‐family authorizations in December were at a rate of 829k, which is 2.2% below November’s revised figure. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 460k. In 2018, there were an estimated 1,310,700 housing units were authorized by building permits which is 2.2% more than in 2017.
NOTE: “Data collection and processing were delayed for this indicator release due to the lapse in federal funding from December 22, 2018 through January 25, 2019. Although released for the first time this month, the December 2018 estimates of housing units authorized by building permits include late reports and corrections normally associated with the first revision to the estimates.“
Click here to read the full release at Census.gov.
