Housing Starts Jump 10.5 Percent in November

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,173,000. This is 10.5 percent above the revised October estimate of 1,062,000 and is 16.5 percent above the November 2014 rate of 1,007,000.

Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 768,000; this is 7.6 percent above the revised October figure of 714,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 398,000.

"The November gains in both single- and multifamily starts show that the overall market continues to move forward," said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo. "As builders anticipate more consumer demand for housing, they should continue to add inventory."

"Single-family production this month has reached levels last seen before the Great Recession, an indicator that we are making gradual headway back to a normal housing market," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "As we close out the year, we can see that the housing sector has made headway in 2015, and we expect the recovery to continue at a modest pace."

Combined single- and multifamily starts rose in the South and West, with respective gains of 21.3 and 6.3 percent. The Midwest was unchanged and the Northeast fell 8.5 percent.

BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,289,000. This is 11.0 percent above the revised October rate of 1,161,000 and is 19.5 percent above the November 2014 estimate of 1,079,000.

Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 723,000; this is 1.1 percent above the revised October figure of 715,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 539,000 in November.

Overall permit issuance rose 11 percent to 1.289 million units in November. Multifamily permits rose 26.9 percent to a rate of 566,000 while single-family permits increased 1.1 percent to 723,000, the highest level since December 2007.

Regionally, the Midwest, South and West posted respective permit gains of 22 percent, 5.6 percent and 21.7 percent. Permit levels in the Northeast held steady.