U.S. New Residential Housing Starts, Permits, Completions All Increase in November

The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Thursday that privately‐owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,679,000. This is 11.8% above the revised October rate of 1,502,000 and is 8.3% above the November 2020 rate of 1,551,000. Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 1,173,000, and this is 11.3% above the revised October figure of 1,054,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 491,000.

Building permits are the forward-looking portion of the report, and privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a SAAR of 1,712,000 in November. This is 3.6% above the revised October rate of 1,653,000 and is 0.09% above the November 2020 rate of 1,696,000. Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 1,103,000 — 2.7% above the revised October figure of 1,074,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 560,000.

Privately‐owned housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,282,000. This is 4.1% above the revised October estimate of 1,231,000 and is 3.1% above the November 2020 rate of 1,244,000. Single‐family housing completions in November were at a rate of 910,000 — -0.1% below the revised October rate of 911,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 364,000.