The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau announced the following new residential construction statistics for January:
Building permits
Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000. This is 5.4 percent (±0.7 percent) below the revised December 2013 rate of 991,000, but is 2.4 percent (±1 percent) above the January 2013 estimate of 915,000. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 602,000; this is 1.3 percent (±0.8 percent) below the revised December 2013 figure of 610,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 309,000 in January.
Housing starts
Privately owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000. This is 16 percent (±10.5 percent) below the revised December 2013 estimate of 1,048,000 and is 2 percent (±10.8 percent)* below the January 2013 rate of 898,000. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 573,000; this is 15.9 percent (±12.1 percent) below the revised December 2013 figure of 681,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 300,000.
Housing Completions
Privately owned housing completions in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 814,000. This is 4.6 percent (±8.3 percent)* above the revised December 2013 estimate of 778,000 and is 13.1 percent (±12.8 percent) above the January 2013 rate of 720,000. Single-family housing completions in January were at a rate of 580,000; this is 3 percent (±7.3 percent)* above the revised December 2013 rate of 563,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 220,000.
Note: In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take two months to establish an underlying trend for building permit authorizations, four months for total starts and six months for total completions. The statistics in this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as non-sampling error, including bias and variance from response, non-reporting and undercoverage.
*90 percent confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.