After jumping an impressive 10.5% in November, housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.149 million – a decrease of 2.5% compared the November rate of about 1.179 million but an increase of 6.4% compared with the December 2014 rate of about 1.080 million, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Starts of single-family homes were at an annual rate of about 768,000, a decrease of 3.3% compared with the revised November figure of about 794,000.
Starts of multifamily units (five units or more per building) were at a rate of about 365,000, a decrease of 3.4% compared with about 378,000 units in November.
An estimated 1.111 million housing units were started in 2015 – an increase of 10.8% compared with the 2014 estimate of 1,003 million units.
Building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.232 million – a decrease of 3.9% compared with the revised November rate of 1.282 million but an increase of 14.4% compared with the December 2014 estimate of about 1.077 million.
Permits for single-family homes were at a rate of 740,000, an increase of 1.8% compared with the revised November figure of about 727,000. Permits for multifamily units were at an annual rate of about 455,000, a decrease of 13.5% compared with about 526,000 in November.
An estimated 1.178 million permits were issued in 2015 – an increase of 12.0% compared with 2014, when there were an estimated 1.052 million permits.
Housing completions in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.013 million – an increase of 5.6% compared with the revised November estimate of about 959,000 and an increase of 7.9% compared with the December 2014 rate of 939,000.
Single-family housing completions were at a rate of about 696,000, an increase of 8.8% compared with the revised November rate of about 640,000. The completion rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 307,000.
An estimated 965,700 housing units were completed in 2015 – an increase of 9.3% compared with an estimated 883,800 in 2014.