by Calculated Risk on 1/17/2020 08:39:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,608,000. This is 16.9 percent above the revised November estimate of 1,375,000 and is 40.8 percent above the December 2018 rate of 1,142,000. Single‐family housing starts in December were at a rate of 1,055,000; this is 11.2 percent above the revised November figure of 949,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 536,000.

An estimated 1,289,800 housing units were started in 2019. This is 3.2 percent above the 2018 figure of 1,249,900.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,416,000. This is 3.9 percent below the revised November rate of 1,474,000, but is 5.8 percent above the December 2018 rate of 1,339,000. Single‐family authorizations in December were at a rate of 916,000; this is 0.5 percent below the revised November figure of 921,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 458,000 in December.

An estimated 1,368,800 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2019. This is 3.9 percent above the 2018 figure of 1,317,900.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) were up in December compared to November.   Multi-family starts were up 68.6% year-over-year in December.

Multi-family is volatile month-to-month, and  has been mostly moving sideways the last several years.

Single-family starts (blue) increased in December, and were up 29.6% year-over-year.

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then eventual recovery (but still historically low).

Total housing starts in December were well above expectations and revisions were positive.

I'll have more later …