Housing starts for new private residential homes rebounded from April’s unexpected near fifteen percent decline according to the latest data released by the Census Bureau.
New construction for multi-family dwellings saw a jump of nearly twenty-five percent from April to May while new construction for single-family homes held steady from the previous month.
Housing Starts:
Privately owned housing starts increased by 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000 in May up from a revised estimate of 856,000 in April. Housing starts were 28.6 percent higher than in May 2012 which had an estimated 711,000 seasonally adjusted annual starts.
Single-family housing starts in May were at about the same levels as in April with starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 599,000, up 0.3 percent from a revised estimate of 597,000 starts in April but were still 16.3 percent higher than in May of last year when an estimated 515,000 starts were reported.
Housing starts for multi-family dwellings jumped by 24.9 percent from a revised rate of 245,000 starts in April to a seasonally adjusted rate of 306,000 starts in May. Housing starts for multi-family dwellings were 69.1 percent higher than a year ago when an estimated 181,000 starts were recorded.
On an unadjusted basis, housing starts increased by 12.5 percent climbing from 76,600 starts in April to 86,200 starts in May.
Regionally, monthly housing starts increased in two of the four regions with the South posting the largest gain of 17.8 percent followed by the West with a 5.7 percent increase The Midwest posted the largest decline of 13.7 percent while the Northeast saw starts decline by 9.0 percent.
Compared to a year ago, all four of the regions posted increases in housing starts with the South posting the largest increase of 19.5 percent, followed by the West with an 18.3 percent gain while the Midwest and the Northeast posted gains of 8.2 and 6.8 percent, respectively.
Building Permits:
The number of building permits issued in May fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 974,000, down 3.1 percent from a revised estimate of 1,005,000 permits in April. Authorized building permits were 20.8 percent higher than the May 2012 estimate of 806,000.
Single-family building permit authorizations were 1.3 percent higher in May than April with 622,000 permits authorized in May compared to a revised 614,000 in April. Building permit authorizations for single-family homes were 24.6 percent higher than in May of last year which had an estimated 499,000 permits issued.
Multi-family dwelling permits declined in May, falling to 325,000 authorizations from a revised total of 366,000 in April, a decrease of 11.2 percent. Authorizations for multi-family dwellings were still 14.4 percent higher than in May of last year which had an estimated 284,000 authorizations.
Building permit authorizations declined in three of the four regions in May. In the Midwest, authorizations fell by 6.1 percent followed by the West where authorizations declined by 3.5 percent while in the Midwest, permits declined by 3.3 percent. Only the Northeast posted an increase, rising by 4.0 percent.
Year-over-year, building permit authorizations increased in all four regions with the Northeast posting the largest increase of 30.4 percent, followed by the Midwest which posted a 28.1 percent increase and the West and the South saw gains of 24.6 and 15.5 percent, respectively.
Housing Completions:
The number of homes that were completed during the month decreased by 0.9 percent from April to May with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 690,000 completions reported in May compared to April’s revised estimate of 696,000 completions. Housing completions were 12.6 percent higher than in May of last year when an estimated 613,000 annual completions were reported.
Single-family completions in May were at an annual rate of 546,000 units, which was 4.2 percent higher than April’s revised rate of 524,000 and 14.9 percent above last year’s rate of 475,000 units. Multi-family completions in May were at a rate of 146,000 units, 18.7 percent lower than the rate of 166,000 units completed in April but still 9.8 percent higher than the 112,000 completions in May of last year.
On an unadjusted basis, housing completions in 2013 have so far been 21.4 percent higher than in 2012.
Tags: housing starts, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, building permits, housing completions
Source:
Census Bureau
Reported by Chris Moore
