United States Housing Starts1959-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar

Housing starts in the US fell 3.6 percent from a month earlier to an annualized 1.567 million units in January of 2020 but beat market forecasts of 1.425 million. Housing starts for December were revised up to 1.626 million units from 1.608 million, the highest level since December of 2006. In January, single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went down 5.9 percent to 1.010 million units from 1.073 million in December which was the highest since June of 2007. On the other hand, starts for the volatile multi-family segment increased 3 percent to 0.547 million. Starts declined in the South (-5.4 percent to 0.778 million) and the Midwest (-25.9 percent to 0.18 million) but rose in the West (1.2 percent to 0.431 million) and the Northeast (31.9 percent to 0.178 million). Meanwhile, building permits jumped 9.2% to 1.551 million, well above expectations of 1.450 million and the highest level since March 2007.

Housing starts in the US jumped 16.9 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.608 million units in December 2019, the highest level since December 2006. It was also the largest gain since October 2016 and followed a revised 2.6 percent rise in November. Single-family homebuilding climbed 11.2 percent to 1.055 million units, the highest since June 2007, and starts for the volatile multi-family housing segment surged 29.8 percent to 553 thousand units. Housing starts rose across all regions: the South (9.3 percent to 810 thousand); West (19.8 percent to 411 thousand); Midwest (37.3 percent to 254 thousand); and Northeast (25.5 percent to 133 thousand). Considering 2019 full year, housing starts were up 3.2 percent to an estimated 1.290 million units.

Housing starts in the US went up 3.2 percent month-over-month to an annualized 1.365 million units in November of 2019. It compares with an upwardly revised 1.323 million in the previous month and market expectations of 1.345 million. This is 13.6 percent above the November 2018 rate of 1,202,000. Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 938,000; this is 2.4 percent above the revised October figure of 916,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 404,000. The housing market has been boosted by a fall in mortgage rates after the Fed cut key rates 3 times this year.

US housing starts rose 3.8 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,314 thousand units in October 2019, compared to market expectations of 1,320 thousand and following a revised 7.9 percent slump in September. Starts for the volatile multi-family housing segment jumped 8.6 percent and single-family homebuilding increased 2.0 percent.