The US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced Wednesday that while building permits fell in January, housing starts soared 14.6 percent last month. In December, building permits had increased 16.7 percent over the prior month while housing starts fell 4.3 percent.
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January totaled 562,000, a 10.4 percent (±1.8 percent) decrease from the December rate of 627,000. Single-family authorizations in January fell 4.8 percent to (±2.3 percent) 421,000 from 442,000 in December.
On the other hand, privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 596,000, 14.6 percent (±15.7 percent) above the December estimate of 520,000. Single-family housing start fell 1.0 percent (±8.6 percent) to 413,000, compared to 417,000 housing starts in December.