Housing Starts Increase In January

Census Bureau press release: New Residential Construction   

HOUSING STARTS   

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000. This is 2.8 percent (±11.5%)* above the revised December estimate of 575,000 and is 21.1 percent (±12.3%) above the January 2009 rate of 488,000.   

Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 484,000; this is 1.5 percent (±11.3%)* above the revised December figure of 477,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 100,000.   

HOUSING COMPLETIONS   

Privately-owned housing completions in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 659,000. This is 12.4 percent (±7.8%) below the revised December estimate of 752,000 and is 15.3 percent (±10.5%) below the January 2009 rate of 778,000.   

Single-family housing completions in January were at a rate of 427,000; this is 12.9 percent (±7.1%) below the revised December rate of 490,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 215,000.   

The upside; the low level of housing starts is a result of the flooded housing inventory which is currently being absorbed. Why is that good news? Well the housing market can’t recover without decreasing the inventory.  

The downside; the housing market will recover slower than the overall economy, as result of a high unemployment rate and uncertain job security.  

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Tags: economic progress, Housing Market

This entry was posted on February 17, 2010 at February 17, 2010 and is filed under Housing Market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.