The US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the new residential construction statistics for May 2012 on Tuesday.
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 780,000. This is 7 percent above the revised April rate of 723,000 and is 25 percent above the May 2011 estimate of 624,000. Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 494,000; this is 4.0 percent above the revised April figure of 475,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 266,000 in May.
Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000. This is 4.8 percent below the revised April estimate of 744,000, but is 28.5 percent above the May 2011 rate of 551,000. Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 516,000; this is 3.2 percent above the revised April figure of 500,000; the May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 179,000.
Privately-owned housing completions in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000. This is 10.3 percent below the revised April estimate of 667,000, but is 10.1 percent above the May 2011 rate of 543,000.