Housing starts rise as single-family sector grows

Residential construction picked up in November with a 3.3% rise in starts from October to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.297 million units

Housing starts rise as single-family sector grows
Residential construction picked up in November with a 3.3% rise in starts from October to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.297 million units.

The HUD and US Census Bureau’s data shows a year-over-year increase of 12.9%. Single-family starts were up 5.3% month-over-month to 930,000 units.

Responding to the figures, the National Association of Home Builders noted that both the single-family and combined readings are post-recession highs.

“The strong November reading indicates that builders are continuing to increase single-family production to meet growing demand for housing,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “With low unemployment and increasing owner-occupied household formation, single-family starts should continue to make gains in 2018.”

The gains were driven by a 19% rise in the West and an 11.1% rise in the South, which more than offset the decreases of 12.9% in the Midwest and 39.6% in the Northeast.

Permits slip
Building permit issuance was lower in November overall with a 1.4% decline to a SAAR of 1.298 million units. Single-family permits were higher though at 862,000 units while multifamily permits dropped 6.4% to 436,000.

Private home completions were also lower with a combined 1,116,000, down 6.1% from October and down 7.2% below the November 2016 total.