at Calculated Risk on 1/17/2025 08:30:00 AM
From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions
Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,499,000. This is 15.8 percent above the revised November estimate of 1,294,000, but is 4.4 percent below the December 2023 rate of 1,568,000. Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 1,050,000; this is 3.3 percent above the revised November figure of 1,016,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 418,000.An estimated 1,364,100 housing units were started in 2024. This is 3.9 percent below the 2023 figure of 1,420,000.
Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,483,000. This is 0.7 percent below the revised November rate of 1,493,000 and is 3.1 percent below the December 2023 rate of 1,530,000. Single-family authorizations in December were at a rate of 992,000; this is 1.6 percent above the revised November figure of 976,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 437,000 in December.An estimated 1,471,200 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2024. This is 2.6 percent below the 2023 figure of 1,511,100.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000.
Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased month-over-month in December. Multi-family starts were down 8.4% year-over-year.
Single-family starts (red) increased in December and were down 2.6% year-over-year.
The second graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.
This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery – and the recent collapse and recovery in single-family starts.
Total housing starts in December were above expectations and starts in October and November were revised up.
I’ll have more later…