by Calculated Risk on 3/18/2025 08:30:00 AM

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,501,000. This is 11.2 percent above the revised January estimate of 1,350,000, but is 2.9 percent below the February 2024 rate of 1,546,000. Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 1,108,000; this is 11.4 percent above the revised January figure of 995,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 370,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,456,000. This is 1.2 percent below the revised January rate of 1,473,000 and is 6.8 percent below the February 2024 rate of 1,563,000. Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 992,000; this is 0.2 percent below the revised January figure of 994,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 404,000 in February.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000.

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased month-over-month in February.   Multi-family starts were down 4.6% year-over-year.

Single-family starts (red) increased in February and were down 2.3% 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 and recovery in single-family starts.

Total housing starts in February were above expectations; however, starts in December and January were revised down slightly, combined.

I'll have more later …

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