Housing Starts Up 5% in May

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,350,000.  This figure is 5% higher than April’s revised estimate and is 20% higher than May, 2017.  Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 936k, which is 3.9% higher than April.  May’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 404k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,301,000.  This number is is 4.6% lower than April’s revised rate but is 8% higher than one year ago.  Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 844k, which is 2.2% below April’s revised figure.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 421k in May.

Click here to read the full release on Census.gov.