Northeast Region Sees Surge in Housing Starts

Numbers for both housing permits andrnhousing starts were much lower in January than in December while housing completionsrnwere up.  The Northeast region of therncountry saw a huge spurt in housing starts apparently all in the multi-familyrnsector while starts in the Midwest plummeted, possibly because of the prolongedrnand harsh winter weather in the region.   The data on new residential construction wasrnissued today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and UrbanrnDevelopment.</p

Permits nationwide were issued at arnseasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 units, 5.4 percent below thernupwardly revised (from 986,000 units) rate of 991,000 units in December and 2.4rnpercent above the estimate of 915,000 permits in January 2013.  Single family permits were issued at a raternof 602,000 units, down 1.3 percent from December’s estimate of 610,000 and 2.4rnpercent more than were issued a year earlier. rnPermits for construction in buildings with five or more units were atrnthe rate of 309,000, down 13.0 percent from December.</p

On an unadjusted basis permits werernestimated to number 64,300; an estimated 41,200 of which were for single-familyrnconstruction.</p

Housing starts in January were at a seasonallyrnadjusted rate of 880,000, 16.0 percent below December’s estimate of 1.048rnmillion and 2.0 percent lower than the rate of 898,000 in January 2013.  The December number is an upward revision fromrn999,000 units.  Single family starts werernat a rate of 573,000, down 15.9 percent from the previous month’s 681,000rnstarts and 6.7 percent lower than starts in January 2013.  Multifamily starts were estimated to be at arnrate of 300,000, a 12.8 percent drop from December.</p

On an unadjusted basis, there were anrnestimated 59,100 housing starts nationwide. rnSingle family starts were estimated at 38,200.</p

Houses were completed during the monthrnat a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 814,000, up 4.6 percent from December’srnrevised estimate (from 744,000) of 778,000, and 13.1 percent higher than thernestimated 720,000 completions a year earlier. rnSingle family completions were estimated at a rate of 580,000, up 3.0rnpercent from December and the completion rate for multi-family units wasrnestimated at 220,000.</p

There were an estimated 54,300 units ofrnhousing completed during the month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.  An estimated 38,500 of the units werernsingle-family houses.</p

In the Northeast region permitting wasrndown 10.3 percent from the December level and 4.0 percent higher than inrnJanuary 2013.  However housing starts surgedrnby 63.9 percent from December levels and were 56.3 percent higher than a yearrnearlier.  Single family starts playedrnonly a small role in the increase, rising 2.0 percent from December.  Housing completions were estimate to be at arnrate 3.1 percent below that in December but 30.1 percent above a year earlier.</p

Permits were issued in the Midwest at anrn8.6 percent higher rate than in December and 2.7 percent higher than a yearrnearlier.  Housing starts were down 67.7rnpercent month over month and 47.4 percent on an annual basis with a 60.3rnpercent drop in single-family starts from December.  Housing completions were 5.0 percent higherrnthan the previous month and increased 42.7 percent from a year earlier.</p

The South saw permitting increase by 3.4rnpercent month-over month and it was up 7.8 percent from the same month in 2013.  Housing starts were down 12.8 percent fromrnDecember and 5.4 percent from a year earlier. rnCompletions rose 10.3 percent and 15.7 percent for the two respective periods.</p

Permits dropped 26.0 percent in Januaryrnin the West and were issued at a rate 9.5 percent below that of a year earlier.rnHousing starts decreased 17.4 percent from the previous month and were 1.7rnpercent higher than in January 2013. Houses were completed at a rate 4.1rnpercent below the rate in December and 12.8 percent below the previous January.</p

At the end of January there were 107,700rnpermits that had been authorized but for which construction had not yet beenrnstarted.  Approximately 55,100 of thesernpermits were for single family construction and 63,800 of the outstandingrnpermits were located in the South.  Therernwere 715,000 units under construction at the end of the reporting period;rn340,000 units were single family houses and 365,000 units were in building withrnfive or more units.

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