Nation's Building News Online

Housing Starts Rise to a 21-Year High in January

Housing starts in January were at their highest level in 21 years, the Commerce Department announced last week, rising 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.159 million units, which was 11.6% above the pace of a year earlier.

Single-family homes were being built at an all-time high of 1.76 million units in January, up 2.7% from December and 12.5% from January of 2004.

“Builders are striving to keep up with demand, and with mortgage rates and other market conditions still very favorable, they see strong months ahead,” said NAHB President Dave Wilson.

“There’s no question that this is a demand-driven housing market right now and that builders are reacting to it,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “The single-family market, in particular, is crying out for supply, and increases in house prices are symptomatic of a market that’s being buoyed by demand while constrained by land-use controls in many areas.”

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Multifamily housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 399,000 units in January, 14% above December’s pace and 8.1% higher than a year earlier.

Construction of new homes and apartments increased 18.8% in the South and 1.9% in the West, but they declined 12.5% in the Midwest and 23.9% in the Northeast, regions that were slammed by winter storms.

The building permits issued in January increased 1.7% from December’s upwardly revised pace to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 2.105 million units. Single-family permits were up by 0.7% to a rate of 1.624 million units, the second-highest pace on record.

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