New home construction was completed at a pace that hasn’t been seen in nearly nine years thanks to a surge in apartment activity. But multifamily dragged down permits.
In municipalities that issue permits for new home construction, 90,200 housing units were authorized in November, slowing from the prior month’s upwardly revised 100,700.
In addition, last month’s total volume was down on a year-over-year basis when compared to the
upwardly revised 91,000 housing permits that were issued a year prior.
Those statistics and more were jointly reported Friday
by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
For all 11 months that have elapsed so far this year, there were 1.081 million permits issued.
Applying adjustments for seasonal factors, the annual rate of building permits was 1.201 million last month. The rate retreated from an upwardly revised 1.260 million in October and a downwardly revised 1.286 million in November 2015.
In the Midwest, the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 189,000, down from the previous month by 8 percent — the biggest month-over-month decline. A 6 percent drop in the West left the rate there at 324,000, while the South was down 4 percent to 578,000.
The only region to experience an increase was the Northeast: 3 percent to an annual rate of 110,000.
While the U.S. rate for just one-unit properties inched up less than a percent from October 2016 to 778,000, it was a 16 percent tumble on multifamily permits to a 384,000 annual rate that drove down the overall number.
The report indicated that there were a seasonally adjusted
138,000 housing units authorized but not started in November, up 3 percent from a month earlier but down 4 percent from a year earlier.
Home builders broke ground on new housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.090 million
last month. The rate tumbled 19 percent from October and was down 7 percent from November 2015.
But the trade group representing home builders found a ray of light in the dismal numbers for construction started.
“Year-to-date, single-family starts are up 9.6 percent and the overall trend in this sector remains positive,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Ed Brady said in a written statement. “Builder sentiment is strong and we can look forward to growth in the single-family market in the year ahead as the industry adds workers and lots and Washington policymakers provide regulatory relief for small businesses.”
The latest construction start activity left a seasonally adjusted 1.044 million units
under construction at the end of the period. The rate dipped a percent from the previous month but ascended 8 percent from the same month last year.
Home builders completed construction on 100,500 housing units last month, more than the 96,500 units completed in October and 80,900 completed in November 2015.
From Jan. 1, 2016, through Nov. 30, construction was completed on 956,300 housing units.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, housing units were completed at an annual rate of 1.216 million — the strongest pace since February 2008’s 1.274 million rate.
The rate surged from a downwardly revised 1.054 million one month earlier and an upwardly revised 0.973 million one year earlier.
The month-over-month gain was lead by the Northeast, where construction was completed at a rate of 123,000 — leaping 54 percent. A nearly one-third gain
from October left the annual rate at 699,000 in the South, while the Midwest’s rate was up 2 percent to 189,000.
Only the West saw a decline from the previous month: 21 percent to an annual rate of 205,000.
The U.S. rate of completed construction was 774,000 on one-unit properties,
creeping up 3 percent from the last report and climbing 21 percent from the year-earlier report.
But on multifamily units, the 432,000 annual rate soared 45 percent from October and jumped 36 percent from November 2015.
