by Calculated Risk on 2/16/2023 08:42:00 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 1,309,000. This is 4.5 percent below the revised December estimate of 1,371,000 and is 21.4 percent below the January 2022 rate of 1,666,000. Single‐family housing starts in January were at a rate of 841,000; this is 4.3 percent below the revised December figure of 879,000. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 457,000.

Building Permits:
Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,339,000. This is 0.1 percent above the revised December rate of 1,337,000, but is 27.3 percent below the January 2022 rate of 1,841,000. Single‐family authorizations in January were at a rate of 718,000; this is 1.8 percent below the revised December figure of 731,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 563,000 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 (blue, 2+ units) decreased in January compared to December.   Multi-family starts were down 8.1% year-over-year in January. 

Single-family starts (red) decreased in January and were down 27.3% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 1968.

This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery - and the recent collapse in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in January were below expectations, however, starts in November and December were revised up slightly, combined.

I'll have more later …