US Housing Starts, Completions & Permits

From the US Census bureau:

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,048,000. This is 3.0 percent below the revised December rate of 1,080,000 and is 33.1 percent below the revised January
2007 estimate of 1,566,000.

Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 673,000; this is 4.1 percent below the December figure of 702,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 336,000 in January.


HOUSING STARTS

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,012,000. This is 0.8 percent above the revised December estimate of 1,004,000, but is 27.9 percent below the revised January 2007 rate of 1,403,000.

Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 743,000; this is 5.2 percent below the December figure of 784,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 247,000.


HOUSING COMPLETIONS

Privately-owned housing completions in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,351,000. This is 1.8 percent above the revised December estimate of 1,327,000, but is 26.2 percent below the revised January 2007 rate of 1,830,000.

Single-family housing completions in January were at a rate of 1,010,000; this is 1.0 percent below the December figure of 1,020,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 303,000.

Remember permits are generally considered a better indicator of building fundamentals than starts, which can be heavily influenced by weather conditions. The sampling error on permits is also lower.

Starts were flat for the month of January, however starts for single family units fell to their lowest levels since Jan 1991.