USA: housing starts and completions up in December 2014

The US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have released figures for new residential construction in December 2014.

The number of privately-owned housing units authorised by building permits in December was 1.9% lower than in November 2014. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for December was 1.032 million compared to the revised November 2014 rate of 1.052 million. However, December 2014’s figure was up 1% on December 2013. Meanwhile, single-family unit authorisations reached a rate of 667 000, 4.5% higher than the revised November 2014 rate.

A seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.089 million was recorded for privately-owned housing starts in December 2014. This compares to a rate of 1.043 million in November 2014 and 1.034 million in December 2013. Single-family housing starts were also higher than in November, rising by 7.2%.

Single-family completions were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667 000, up 9.5% on November’s revised figures. Privately-owned housing completions came in at a rate of 927 000, 19.6% greater than the estimated rate for December 2013. This figure is also 6.3% above the revised November 2014 rate.

Statistics for full-year 2014

• Some 1.0329 million housing units were authorised by building permits in 2014, up 4.2% on the previous year.
• Estimates suggest that 8.8% more housing units were started in 2014 than they were in 2013.
• Approximately 883 000 housing unties were completed during the year, an increase of 15.5% when compared with 2013’s 764 400 units.

Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/22012015/us-residential-housing-statistics-december-2014-187/