Housing Starts Continue to Rise Into the Winter Months After November High

Privately-owned housing starts for the month of November rose 8.3 percent year-over-year at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,679,000, reports Bill McBride in the CalculatedRisk Newsletter. Single-family starts in November also increased 11.3 percent at a rate of 1,173,000 from the revised October figure of 1,054,000. Year-to-date starts are up 16.3% from 2020 rates with a projected 1.6 million total starts by the end of the year. Starts in 2021 will reach the highest level since 2006, when a reported 1.801 million units were started.

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:

Privately owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,679,000. This is 11.8 percent above the revised October estimate of 1,502,000 and is 8.3 percent above the November 2020 rate of 1,551,000. Single family housing starts in November were at a rate of 1,173,000; this is 11.3 percent 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:

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,712,000. This is 3.6 percent above the revised October rate of 1,653,000 and is 0.9 percent above the November 2020 rate of 1,696,000. Single family authorizations in November were at a rate of 1,103,000; this is 2.7 percent 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 in November.

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