Housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,028,000 in November, a decrease of 1.6% compared to the 1,045,000 units started in October and a decrease of 7% compared to the 1,105,000 units started in November 2013, according to figures released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The decrease comes after housing starts fell 2.8% in October compared to September.
About 677,000 single-family housing starts were recorded in November, a decrease of 5.4% compared to the approximately 716,000 single-family units started in October. About 340,000 multifamily housing units (units in buildings with five units or more) were started – an increase of 7.6% compared to October's 316,000 units.
Building permits also fell in November compared to October, dropping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,035,000, which is 5.2% below the revised October rate of 1,092,000 and 0.2% below the November 2013 estimate of 1,037,000.
Regionally, the Northeast saw permits increase 27.4%, while the South, Midwest and West saw permits decline by 10%, 7.3% and 5.6%, respectively.
Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 639,000 – down 1.2% compared to the revised October figure of 647,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 367,000 in November.
Housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 863,000, down 6.4% compared to the revised October estimate of 922,000, but 4.5% above the November 2013 rate of 826,000.
Single-family housing completions in November were at a rate of 596,000 – a drop of 2.9% compared to the revised October rate of 614,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 256,000.