Housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.192 million – a decrease of 8.2% compared with a revised 1.299 million in November and a decrease of 6% compared with 1.268 million in December 2016, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Starts of single-family homes were at a rate of about 836,000 – a decrease of 11.8% compared with a revised 948,000 in November. Starts of multifamily homes (five or more units per building) were at a rate of about 352,000 – an increase of 2.6% compared with about 343,000 in November.
An estimated 1.202 million housing units were started in 2017 – an increase of 2.4% compared with 1.174 million in 2016.
Building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.3 million – a dip of 0.1% compared with November but an increase of 2.8% compared with December 2016.
Permits for single-family homes were at a rate of 881,000 – an increase of 1.8% compared with a revised 865,000 in November. Permits for multifamily units were at a rate of 382,000 – a decrease of 4.3% compared with about 399,000 in November.