US Housing Starts, Permits, and Completions Show Mixed Results in November

On Wednesday, the US Census Bureau reported that privately‐owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,289,000. This is 1.8% below the revised October estimate of 1,312,000 and 14.6% below the November 2023 rate of 1,510,000. Single-family housing starts were at a rate of 1,011,000; this is 6.4% above the revised October figure of 950,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 264,000.

Building permits are the forward-looking portion of the report, and in November privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,505,000. This is 6.1% above the revised October rate of 1,419,000 but 0.2% below the November 2023 rate of 1,508,000. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 972,000; this is 0.1% above the revised October figure of 971,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 481,000.

Privately‐owned housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,601,000. This is 1.9% below the revised October estimate of 1,632,000 but 9.2% above the November 2023 rate of 1,466,000. Single-family housing completions were at a rate of 1,038,000; this is 3.3% above the revised October rate of 1,005,000. The rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 544,000.