by Risk calculated on 03/16/2023 08:40:00
From the Census Bureau: Permits, starts and completions
Starts:
Private housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,450,000. That’s 9.8% above January’s revised estimate of 1,321,000, but 18.4% below the February 2022 rate of 1,777,000. amounted to 830,000; that’s 1.1 per cent above January’s revised figure of 821,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 608,000.Building permit:
Private housing units cleared by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,524,000. That’s 13.8% above January’s revised rate of 1,339,000, but 17.9% down. below February 2022 rate of 1,857,000. Single-family clearances in February were 777,000; that’s 7.6 per cent above January’s revised figure of 722,000. Housing clearances in buildings with five or more units stood at 700,000 in February.
added emphasis
Click on the graphic to enlarge the image.
The first chart shows single-family and multi-family housing starts over the past few years.
Multi-family housing starts (blue units, 2+) fell in February compared to January. Multi-family housing starts rose 9.9% year over year in February.
Single-family housing starts (red) rose slightly in February and fell 31.6% year-over-year.
The second chart shows single-family and multi-family housing starts since 1968.
This shows the huge collapse that followed the housing bubble, then the eventual recovery – and the recent collapse in single-family housing starts.
Total February housing starts were above expectations, however, both December and January housing starts were revised down, combined.
I’ll have more later…