According to data released on Thursday, Jan. 18, by the U.S. Census Bureau, the annual pace of new-home construction pulled back 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.46 million units during December after riding high in November, when the pace was 1.56 million, CNN Business reports.
Even so, housing starts in December were up 7.6% compared with a year ago.
In other good news for expanding the inventory of homes, building permits ticked up in December, climbing 1.9% from November’s revised number to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.467 million.
Permits were 6.1% higher than a year ago.
Even though construction starts slowed to end 2023, there are tailwinds with mortgage rates trending lower that will help construction this year, said Kelly Mangold of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, in a statement.
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