The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,608,000. This figure is 16.9% higher than November’s revised estimate and is 40.8% above one year ago. Single‐family housing starts in December were at a rate of 1,055,000, which is 11.2% higher than November. December’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 536k. In addition, for 2019 there were an estimated 1,289,800 housing units were started which is 3.2% higher than 2018. Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000. This is 3.9% lower than November’s revised rate but is 5.8% higher than one year ago. Single‐family authorizations in December were at a rate of 916k. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 458k in December. An estimated 1,368,800 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2019 which is 3.9% higher than 2018’s figure.
However, as an aside, Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, made in interesting observation about December’s data by pointing out historical data reinforcing the lack of new hosing coming online. Indeed…
“Even with strong December data, most annual housing starts in over a decade, 2019 US total gross housing added (single-family + multifamily + manufactured housing) falls behind all years except 2 from 1968 to 2007.”
Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.
