According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today, privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 681,000. This is a 5.7% increase over the revised October rate of 644,000, and is a 20.7% increase above the November 2010 estimate of 564,000. Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 435,000; this is 1.6% increase over the upwardly revised October figure of 428,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 224,000 in November.
With respect to housing starts, privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. This is 9.3% above the revised October estimate of 627,000, and is 24.3% above the November 2010 rate of 551,000. Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 447,000; this is 2.3% above the revised October figure of 437,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 230,000.
Privately-owned housing completions in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 542,000. This is 5.6% below the revised October estimate of 574,000 and is 1.6% below the November 2010 rate of 551,000. Single-family housing completions in November were at a rate of 440,000; this is 0.7% below the revised October rate of 443,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 99,000.
The data appears to indicate that the Northeast region is poised for a surge in private housing construction moving forward into 2012. November building permit applications for the region were up 32.8% from October, 2011, and were up 26.6% from November, 2010. For the region, November housing units starts were up 53.8% from October, 2011, and were up 28.2% from November, 2010.
