by Data highlights year-over-year increases in residential building permits, housing starts and housing completions
WASHINGTON — Year-over-year housing construction activity saw increases across three major segments in December, signaling that improvements in the sector could continue as interest rates come down as expected in the months ahead.
According to its monthly report of residential construction, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development noted that December housing starts were up 7.6% above the rate in December 2022, while building permits were up 6.1%. Housing completions rose 13.2% compared to December 2022.
There were 1,495,000 building permits issued in December, compared to 1,409,000 issued in December 2022, up 6.1% and up 1.9% above the November rate of 1,467,000.
Housing starts totaled 1,460,000 in December, up 7.6% from the 1,357,000 in December 2022, but 4.3% below a revised November estimate of 1,525,000.
There were 1,574,000 housing completions in December, up 13.2% from the 1,390,000 completed in December 2022 and 8.7% above the 1,448,000 completed in November.
The activity suggests that there has been interest among consumers for newly constructed homes as declines in existing home sales also have dropped at the end of 2023. This also could eventually bode well for furniture sales in the months ahead as people continue to move into new or existing homes.
Single-family building permits totaled 994,000, up 1.7% from a revised November rate of 977,000; single-family housing starts totaled 1,027,000, 8.6% below the revised November rate of 1,124,000; and there were 1,056,000 single-family home completions, up 8.4% above the revised November rate of 974,000.
By region, housing construction was as follows:
+ In the Northeast, there were 101,000 building permits issued, down 17.9% from the 123,000 issued in December 2022 but up 20.2% from the 84,000 issued in November. Housing starts in the region totaled 108,000 in December, down 46.8% from the 203,000 reported in December 2022 and down 16.9% from the 130,000 started in November. There were 136,000 residential units completed in the region in December, up 18.3% from the 115,000 completed in December 2022 and up 28.3% from the 106,000 issued in November.
+ In the Midwest, there were 199,000 residential building permits issued in December, up 8.2% from the 184,000 issued in December 2022 and up 4.7% from the 190,000 issued in November. There were 187,000 housing starts in the region in December, up 46.1% from the 128,000 started in December 2022 and down 8.8% from the 205,000 started in November. There were 200,000 units completed in the region, up 7% from the 187,000 completed in December 2022 and up 20.5% from the 166,000 completed in November.
+ In the South, there were 860,000 permits issued in December, up 10.7% from the 777,000 issued a year earlier and up 8.4% from 793,000 issued in November. There were 787,000 units started in December, up 10.2% from the 714,000 started in December 2022 and down 5.1% from the 829,000 started in November. There were 904,000 units completed in December, up 18% from December 2022 and up 3.1% from the 877,000 completed in November.
+ In the West, there were 335,000 permits issued, up 3.1% from the 325,000 issued in December 2022, but down 16.3% from the 400,000 issued in November. In December, there were 378,000 units started, up 21.2% from the 312,000 started a year earlier and up 4.7% from the 361,000 started in November. There were 334,0000 units completed in December, up 3.7% from the 322,000 completed a year earlier and up 11.7% from the 299,000 completed in November.
