by Calculated Risk on 2/18/2021 08:49:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,580,000. This is 6.0 percent below the revised December estimate of 1,680,000 and is 2.3 percent below the January 2020 rate of 1,617,000. Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 1,162,000; this is 12.2 percent below the revised December figure of 1,323,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 402,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,881,000. This is 10.4 percent above the revised December rate of 1,704,000 and is 22.5 percent above the January 2020 rate of 1,536,000. Single-family authorizations in January were at a rate of 1,269,000; this is 3.8 percent above the revised December figure of 1,223,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 557,000 in January.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts for the last several years.

Multi-family starts (red, 2+ units) increased in January compared to December.   Multi-family starts were down 33% year-over-year in January.

Single-family starts (blue) decreased in January, and were up 17% year-over-year.   

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

The second graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then eventual recovery (but still historically low).

Total housing starts in January were well below expectations, and starts in November and December were revised down, combined.

I'll have more later …