WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 20, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau today announced the following new residential construction statistics for September 2014:
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,018,000. This is 1.5 percent (±1.1%) above the revised August rate of 1,003,000 and is 2.5 percent (±1.2%) above the September 2013 estimate of 993,000.
Single-family authorizations in September were at a rate of 646,000; this is 0.5 percent (±1.1%)* below the revised August figure of 627,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 369,000 in September.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,017,000. This is 6.3 percent (±9.3%) above the revised August estimate of 957,000 and is 17.8 percent (±14.4%) above the September 2013 rate of 863,000. Single-family housing starts in September were at a rate of 646,000; this is 1.1 percent (±8.3%)* above the revised August figure of 639,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 353,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately owned housing completions in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000. This is 8.6 percent (±17.2%)* above the revised August estimate of 920,000 and is 31.3 percent (±23.7%)* above the September 2013 rate of 761,000. Single-family housing completions in September were at a rate of 624,000; this is 1.0 percent (±11.6%)* above the revised August rate of 618,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 368,000.
New Residential Construction data for October 2014 will be released on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 8:30 A.M. EDT.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take two months to establish an underlying trend for building permit authorizations, 4 months for total starts, and six months for total completions. The statistics in this release are estimated from sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated relative standard errors of the most recent data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5 percent (±3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies apply to the confidence intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates of total building permits, housing starts and housing completions are revised about three percent or less. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found on our web site listed above.
* 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.
Read more about today’s release of housing construction activity.
