Housing starts reached an estimated 999,000 for 2013, as of December, about 9.8% below the 1,107,000 that had been forecast as of November, but 1.6% above the 983,000 recorded in 2012, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Of the 999,000 new construction starts, approximately 667,000 were single-family homes. This is about 7% lower than the 717,000 starts of single-family homes that had been forecast as of November.
Starts of multifamily dwellings with five units or more had reached 312,000 for the year, as of December.
An estimated 923,400 housing units were started in 2013. This is about 18.3% above the 2012 figure of 780,600.
Building Permits
Housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 986,000 – about 3% below the revised November rate of 1,017,000, but 4.6% above the December 2012 estimate of 943,000.
Single-family authorizations in December were at a rate of 610,000, 4.8% below the revised November figure of 641,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 350,000 in December.
An estimated 974,700 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2013 – about 17.5% above the 829,700 units authorized in 2012.
Housing Completions
About 744,000 units were completed as of December – about 10.8% below the revised November estimate of 834,000, but 10.7% above the December 2012 rate of 672,000.
Single-family housing completions in December were at a rate of 550,000, about 8.2% below the revised November rate of 599,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 183,000.
An estimated 762,200 housing units were completed in 2013 – about 17.4% above the 2012 figure of 649,200.
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