December residential construction activity

HUD and the Census Bureau have jointly released statistics on new residential construction for December 2017.

• Building Permits: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,302,000, 0.1 percent below the revised November rate of 1,303,000 but 2.8 percent above the December 2016 rate of 1,266,000. Single-family authorizations in December were at a rate of 881,000; this is 1.8 percent above the revised November figure of 865,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 382,000 in December. An estimated 1,263,400 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2017. This is 4.7 percent above the 2016 figure of 1,206,600.
• Housing Starts: Privately owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,192,000. This is 8.2 percent below the revised November estimate of 1,299,000 and 6.0 percent below the December 2016 rate of 1,268,000. Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 836,000, 11.8 percent below the revised November figure of 948,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 352,000. An estimated 1,202,100 housing units were started in 2017. This is 2.4 percent above the 2016 figure of 1,173,800.
• Housing Completions: Privately owned housing completions in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,177,000. This is 2.2 percent above the revised November estimate of 1,152,000 and 7.4 percent above the December 2016 rate of 1,096,000. Single-family housing completions in December were at a rate of 818,000, 4.3 percent above the revised November rate of 784,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 346,000. An estimated 1,152,300 housing units were completed in 2017, 8.7 percent above the 2016 figure of 1,059,700.