The U.S. government is reporting that privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,246,000. This figure is 2.6% below December’s rate, but is 10.5% higher than one year ago. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 823k and the rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 421k. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,285,000. This is 4.6% above the revised December rate of 1,228,000 and is 8.2% higher than January 2016. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 808k which is 2.7% below December’s revised figure of 830k. Authorizations of units in buildings with five or more units were at a rate of 446k in January.
